UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  D  EGO 


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DIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  01  EGO       1 


NIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


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University  of  California,  San  Diego 
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A  THEORY  OF  THE 
MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 


A  THEORY  OF  THE 
MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

THE   FOURTH  DIMENSION  AND   ITS 
APPLICATIONS 


BY 

W.   WHATELY  SMITH 


LONDON : 

KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  CO.,  LTD. 
NEW  YORK  :   E.  P.  BUTTON  &  CO. 

1920 


TO 

MY  MOTHER 


"  When  we  can  no  longer  interpret  a  phenomenon 
by  the  known,  we  must  needs  try  to  do  so  by  the 
unknown.  .  .  ." 

"  It  is  well,  in  spite  of  everything,  to  seek  an 
explanation  of  the  inexplicable ;  it  is  by  attacking  it 
on  every  side  at  all  hazards  that  we  cherish  the  hope 
of  overcoming  it" 

MAETERLINCK.    "The  Unknown  Guest." 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.      THE    MEANING   OF   FOUR-DlMENSIONAL  SPACE  I 

II.    THE  SCOPE  OF  APPLICATION  AND  PROBABLE 

IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  HIGHER-SPACE  CONCEPTS  21 

III.  APPLICATION    TO    CERTAIN    OF   THE    FACTS 

ELICITED  BY  PSYCHIC  RESEARCH            .           .  39 

IV.  SOME   OTHER    POSSIBLE   APPLICATIONS    OF  THE 

HYPOTHESIS             , 92 

V.    VITALITY  AND  WILL 113 

VI.    HIGHER  SPACE  AND  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  .       .  122 

VII.    THE  CONNECTING  LINK 136 

VIII.    THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECTS  OF  THE  HYPOTHESIS  168 

IX.    SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION     ....  181 

APPENDIX .  187 

INDEX    .               196 


PREFACE 

THE  highly  speculative  and  extrapolatory  character 
of  this  book  will  be  evident  to  all  who  are  bold 
enough  to  read  it. 

I  wish  to  make  it  perfectly  clear  that  I  have  no 
intention  of  dogmatising  on  so  obscure  a  subject. 
The  suggestions  which  follow  are  purely  tentative, 
and  I  am  well  aware  that  some  of  them  are  likely  to 
prove  mutually  incompatible. 

But  it  is  only  by  the  bold  formulation  and  ruthless 
rejection  of  hypotheses  that  progress  is  made,  and 
even  if  we  are  compelled  to  abandon  the  Higher 
Space  Hypothesis  altogether — as  is  very  possible — 
the  negative  information  so  gained  will  be  of  the 
greater  value  if  the  hypothesis  has  first  been  given 
the  fullest  possible  trial. 

w.  w.  s. 


A  Theory  of 
The  Mechanism  of  Survival 


CHAPTER    I 

THE     MEANING     OF     FOUR-DIMENSIONAL     SPACE. 

The  main  line  of  thought  developed  in  these 
pages  has  no  claims  to  originality.  Professor 
Zollner  of  Leipsic  was  an  ardent  exponent  of  the 
theory  in  the  "  seventies  "  and  some  authors  hold 
that  even  the  ancient  writings  of  the  East  contain 
attempts  to  express  Four-Dimensional  concepts. 

Whether  this  is  actually  so  is  open  to  doubt 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  the  days 
when  these  writings  were  produced  mathematical 
knowledge  was  itself  in  its  infancy  and  that 
there  was,  therefore,  no  terminology  available 
in  which  the  Higher  Space  concepts  could  be 
suitably  expressed  even  supposing  that  the 
ancient  philosophers  had  them  in  mind. 

It  is  only  through  accumulated  knowledge, 
especially  the  work  of  Gauss,  Lobatschewsky, 
Bolyai,  Riemann,  and  others  that  modern 
mathematicians  are  able  to  deal  easily  with 
space  of  more  than  three  dimensions. 


2        THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

It  may  be  noted  that   Kant  says  : 

"  If  it  be  possible  that  there  are  developments 
of  other  dimensions  of  space,  it  is  very  probable 
that  God  has  somewhere  produced  them.  For 
His  works  have  all  the  grandeur  and  glory  that 
can  be  comprised." 

According  to  Mr.  G.  R.  S.  Mead  similar  ideas 
are  to  be  found  in  certain  of  the  Gnostic 
cosmogonies. 

(Fragments  of  a  Faith  forgotten,  p.  318.) 

But  a  detailed  historical  review  would  be  out 
of  place  here  and  I  will  therefore  proceed 
at  once  to  a  discussion  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
term  "  fourth  dimension "  and  will  try  to 
explain  how  it  is  that  we  can  determine  some  of 
the  necessary  properties  of  four-dimensional 
space,  even  although  we  cannot  picture  it  to 
ourselves. 

At  this  point  I  would  urge  the  reader  to  try 
to  believe  that  the  subject  is  not  one  of  great 
difficulty.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  really 
exceptionally  straightforward  if  only  one  faces 
it  and  does  not  allow  oneself  to  be  frightened. 

I  know  that  it  is  impossible  to  form  any  clear 
mental  picture  of  four  -  dimensional  conditions, 
but  that  does  not  matter.  The  ideas  involved 
are  admittedly  unprecedented  in  our  experience, 
but  they  are  not  contrary  to  reason  and  I  do  not 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE 


ask  more  than  a  formal  and  intellectual  assent 
to  the  propositions  and  analogies  concerned. 

Let  me  start,  then,  by  denning  what  is  meant 
by  a  Dimension.  The  best  definition  I  can  think 
of  is  to  say  that,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
is  used  here,  a  Dimension  means  "  An  independent 
direction  in  space." 

I  must  amplify  this  by  saying  that,  "  Two 
directions  in  space  are  to  be  considered  as 
independent  when  they  are  so  related  that  no 
movement,  however  great,  along  one  of  them 
will  result  in  the  slightest  movement  along,  or 
parallel  to,  the  other.  That  is  to  say,  at  right 
angles,  or  perpendicular  to  one  another." 
Thus  in  Fig.  i  AOA'  and  BOB'  are  independent 

directions.  One 
might  move  for 
ever  along  OA 
or  OA'  and  yet 
one  would  not 
'  have  moved  in 
the  very  least  in 
the  direction  of 
OB  or  of  OB'. 
Now  on  a  flat 
surface,  such  as 
a  sheet  of  paper, 
it  is  not  possible 


F/g.1 


B 


THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 


to  draw  more  than  two  such  directions.  Any 
other  line  that  can  be  drawn,  XOX'  for  instance, 
is  in  a  compound  direction,  so  to  speak.  That 
is  to  say  it  is  partly  in  the  direction  AOA'  and 
partly  in  the  direction  BOB'  and  it  is  possible 
to  reach  any  point  in  it,  Y  for  example,  by  moving 
along  OA'  to  a  and  then  moving  in  the  direction 
of  OB'  a  distance  equal  to  Ob,  or  vice  versa  or  by 
doing  the  two  simultaneously. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  absolutely 
ignorant  of  the  rudiments  of  Geometrical  know- 
ledge, I  would  point  out  that  Parallel  lines  are 
said  to  point,  in  fact  do  point,  in  the  same 
direction. 

Thus,  in  Fig.  2,  the  direction  of  the  line  ZZ' 

is  the  same  as 
that  of  AOA' 
and  the  direc- 
tion of  the  line 
PP'  is  the 
same  as  that 
of  XOX'. 

Thus  we  see 
that  in  a  flat 
surface  we  find 
only  two  di- 
mensions and 
consequently  we  can  refer  to  a  flat  surface  as 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE 


"  Space  of  two  dimensions  "  or  "  Two-dimensional 
space." 

But  if  we  refuse  to  be  restricted  to  a  flat  surface 
we  find  that  it  is  possible  to  draw  a  third  line 
through  O  which  is  quite  "  independent  "  of  the 
directions  of  the  two  lines  we  have  previously 
drawn.  We  can  do  this  by  drawing  it  vertically, 
that  is  to  say,  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the 
paper.  Call  this  line  COC'. 

I  have  shown  it  in  perspective  in  Fig.  3.     This 

line     fulfils    the 

C  definition        we 

gave  of  an  in- 
dependent direc- 
tion in  space  for 
A  it  is  at~  right 
angles  both  to 
AOA'  and  to 
BOB'.  But  we 
have  now  ex- 
hausted o«r  re- 
sources. Try  as 
we  will  we  are 

unable  to  draw  a  fourth  line  which  shall  be  at 
right  angles  to  AOA',  BOB',  and  COC'  simul- 
taneously. 

On  other  words — In  the  space  we  know  we 
find  only  three  dimensions  and  consequently 

B 


O 


C' 


6        THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

we  can  refer  to  it  as  "  Space  of  three  dimensions  " 
or  "  Three-dimensional  space." 

Now  the  idea  of  a  fourth  dimension  of  space  is 
simply  this  :  That,  whereas  in  three-dimensional 
space,  we  can  draw,  through  any  point  in  it, 
three,  and  only  three,  lines  mutually  at  right 
angles :  in  four  -  dimensional  space,  it  would 
be  possible  to  draw,  through  any  point  in  it, 
four,  and  only  four,  lines  mutually  at  right 
angles. 

Extending  the  idea  to  "  Higher  space "  in 
general,  we  may  say  that, — In  space  of  "  n  " 
dimensions  we  can  draw,  through  any  point  in 
it,  "  n,"  and  only  "  n,"  lines  mutually  at  right 
angles. 

Now  I  admit,  that,  at  first  sight,  the  idea  that 
it  might  be  possible,  under  any  circumstances, 
to  draw  more  than  three  such  lines  through  a 
point,  seems  utterly  staggering  and  inconceivable. 
And  indeed  the  more  one  thinks  of  it  and  the 
more  thoroughly  one  grasps  what  it  means,  the 
more  absolutely  impossible  does  it  appear. 

All  the  same,  as  I  hope  to  show  very  soon, 
it  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  quite  possible  that  there 
may  be  another  independent  direction  fulfilling 
the  prescribed  conditions,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
we  are  at  present  ignorant  of  it. 

This  we  can  only  realise  by  a  consideration  of 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  7 

the  time-honoured  but  indispensable  analogy 
of  a  two-dimensional  world,  or  "  Flatland." 

This  analogy  I  propose  to  examine  in  some 
detail  in  the  paragraphs  which  follow. 

But  before  doing  so  I  wish  to  point  out,  and  I 
do  not  think  it  will  be  necessary  to  do  more, 
that  a  "  line "  which  has  length,  but  neither 
breadth  nor  thickness,  can  be  correctly  described 
as  "  One- dimensional  space  "  i.e.  : — space  having 
only  one  dimension. 

A  mathematical  "  point,"  which  has  only 
position  and  neither  length  nor  breadth  nor 
thickness,  can  similarly  be  'called  space  of  no 
dimensions  or  "  Zero-dimensional  space."  Also 
I  wish  to  take  the  opportunity  of  defining  one  or 
two  words  which  I  may  have  occasion  to  use 
and  have  the  merit  of  brevity. 

(1)  Lines  which  are  drawn  through  a  point 
for  the  sake  of  determining  direction  are 
called  in  Geometrical  parlance,  "  Axes." 

Thus  in  Fig.  i  AOA'  and  BOB'  are  axes. 
The  former  would  be  known  as  "  the  axis 
of  A,"  the  latter  as  "  the  axis  of  B." 
Similarly  in  Fig.  3  COC'  is  "  the  axis 
of  C." 

(2)  The  point  in  which  two  or  more  axes  meet, 
is  called  the  "  Origin  "  and  is  commonly 
denoted  by  the  letter  O. 


THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

(3)  When  convenient,  I  shall  use  the  terms, 
"  Two  space,"  "  Three  space/'  "  Four 
space,"  etc.,  instead  of  writing  "  Two- 
dimensional  space,"  "Three-dimensional 
space,"  "  Four-dimensional  space,"  etc. 
in  full  each  time. 


THE   ANALOGY   OF  A  TWO-DIMENSIONAL 
WORLD. 

The  consideration  of  the  analogy  of  a  two 
dimensional  world  is  necessary  because,  as  Mr. 
C.  H.  Hinton  says  in  his  book,  "  The  Fourth 
Dimension,"  p.  6. 

"  The  change  in  our  conceptions,  which 
we  make  in  passing  from  the  shapes  and 
motions  in  two  dimensions  to  those  in  three, 
affords  a  pattern  by  which  we  can  pass  on 
still  further  to  the  conception  of  an  existence 
in  four-dimensional  space." 

Let  us  start  then  by  imagining  a  very  large, 
flat  and  perfectly  smooth  surface ;  such  for 
instance  as  the  top  of  a  highly  polished  table 
or  the  surface  of  a  sheet  of  still  liquid. 

We  have  seen  that  such  a  surface  constitutes 
space  of  two  dimensions,  because  through  any 
point  in  it  we  can  only  draw  two  lines  at  right 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  9 

angles  to  one  another.  In  order  to  draw  a  third 
such  line  we  must  get  out  of  the  surface  altogether 
and  draw  the  line  perpendicular  to  it. 

Next  we  must  try  to  imagine  that  this  surface 
is  populated  by  a  race  of  beings  of  an  extraordinary 
thinness. 

In  order  to  grasp  the  analogy  properly  we  must 
imagine  them  to  be  so  constituted  that  they  are 
incapable  of  realising  any  direction  in  space 
which  does  not  lie  in  the  aforementioned  flat 
surface  on  which  they  live. 

We  can  imagine  this  by  supposing  that  their 
thickness,  i.e.  : — their  extension  in  the  third 
dimension  perpendicular  to  their  surface, — is  so 
small  as  to  be  invisible  to  them  and  also  that 
their  "  nerve  endings  "  all  lie  on  their  periphery. 
This  last  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  they  have 
no  "  sense  organs  "  facing  the  third  dimension 
and  that  therefore  they  cannot  receive  im- 
pressions, or  respond  to  any  stimuli  that  come 
to  them  from  that  direction. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  unless  they  develope 
special  sense  organs  which  face  the  third  dimension 
they  will  be  acquainted  only  with  such  objects 
and  events  as  lie,  or  take  place,  in  their  surface. 

It  is  of  course  inconceivable  that  they  should 
be  truly  "  plane  "  beings  in  the  mathematical 
sense  and  possess  no  thickness  at  all.  But  if 


io       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

we  suppose  that  their  thickness  is  of  the  same 
order  as  the  diameter  of  a  chemical  "  Atom  " 
—that  they  are  "  one  atom  thick  "  so  to  speak, — 
the  conditions  laid  down  as  to  their  limitation  will 
be  fulfilled. 

Now  we  have  supposed  the  flat  surface  in  our 
analogy  to  be  perfectly  smooth. in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word.  That  is  to  say  of  such  a  nature  as 
to  offer  no  resistance  whatever  to  the  passage 
of  objects  over  it. 

This  means  that  plane  beings  will  not  be  sensible 
of  any  opposition  to  their  movement  as  far  as  the 
surface  is  concerned.  Also,  as  we  have  supposed 
that  they  have  no  nerve  endings  facing  it,  it  follows 
that  they  cannot  feel  any  pressure  from  it.  In 
short  they  will  be  totally  unaware  of  its  existence. 

But  for  the  purpose  of  strict  analogy  this  is 
insufficient,  because  a  being  placed  on  such  a 
surface  would  be  as  incapable  of  movement  as 
we  should  be  if  we  were  freely  suspended  in 
infinite  space,  remote  from  all  the  material  objects 
we  know.  There  would  be  nothing,  in  any 
direction  known  to  him,  from  which  he  could 
"  push  off."  We  must  therefore  further  suppose 
that  the  force  of  gravity  operates  in  his  world 
in  a  manner  similar  to  that  which  we  know, — 
every  particle  of  matter  attracting  every  other 
particle. 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  n 

This  will  mean  two  things  ;  first,  that  every 
particle  on  the  surface  will  be  held  against  that 
surface  and  that  plane  beings  will,  therefore, 
never  be  able  to  move  away  from  it ;  and, 
second,  that  matter  on  the  surface  will  tend  to 
collect  together  in  a  manner  precisely  analogous 
to  what  we  observe  in  our  space. 

Finally,  we  may  suppose  that  these  hypothetical 
beings  whom  we  are  considering  live  on  the  rim 
of  a  very  large  disc  of  plane  matter,  which  has 
collected  and  is  held  together  by  the  action  of 
gravity,  just  as  we  live  on  the  surface  of  a  very 
large  sphere  of  solid  matter.  They  will  be  kept 
up  against  the  rim  of  the  disc  by  the  force  of 
gravity,  which  will  attract  them  towards  its 
centre,  in  the  same  way  that  we  are  kept  against 
the  surface  of  the  earth. 

It  is  easy  to  realise  that  the  existence  of  such 
a  plane  being  will  be  very  limited  indeed.  He 
will  be  conscious  of  two  directions  only.  One 
will  be  "up  and  down  "  that  is  to  say,  towards 
or  away  from  the  centre  of  his  plane  earth  : 
the  other  will  be  "  forwards  and  backwards  " 
along  its  rim.  Again  any  object,  that  projects 
beyond  the  rim  of  the  disc  on  which  he  lives, 
will  be  for  him  an  obstacle,  which  can  only  be 
passed  by  climbing  over  or  burrowing  under  it.  He 
cannot  go  round  it,  because  that  would  mean 


12       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

ooming  out  of  the  flat  surface,  which  he  is  unable 
to  do.     Thus  in  Fig.  4,  if  the  curved  line  AB 

represents  a  por- 

C n .      -y^I'v.--      _  tion  of  the  rim  of 

the  disc  or  "plane 
earth,"  and  C  a 
plane  being,  then 
he  can  only  pass 
from  A  to  B  by  "  climbing  over  "  any  intervening 
object  such  as  D,  i.e.  : — by  following  the  path 
indicated  by  the  dotted  line.  Otherwise  he  would 
have  to  get  out  of  the  plane  of  the  paper,  which 
is  impossible  for  him. 

Now  that  I  have  described  in  outline  the  strict 
analogy  of  a  race  of  plane  beings  inhabiting  a 
smooth  surface,  I  shall  take  the  liberty,  in  the 
course  of  developing  the  idea  more  fully,  of 
treating  it  in  a  slightly  less  rigid  fashion.  That 
is  to  say  I  shall  assume  that  the  reader  has 
grasped  the  main  idea  and  I  shall  not  trouble 
about  the  "  Plane  earth  "  etc.,  unless  it  is  desir- 
able to  do  so  for  the  sake  of  bringing  out  some 
special  point ;  and  I  shall  substitute  for  the 
foregoing  somewhat  elaborate  representation  the 
simpler  one  of  a  thin  object  free  to  slide  on  a 
smooth  surface  lying  in  front  of  us. 

But  before  doing  so  I  would  point  out  that 
already  we  begin  to  see  our  way  a  little.  We 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  13 

can  understand  for  instance  that  the  fact  of 
a  Fourth  dimension  of  space  being  unknown 
and  inconceivable  to  us,  is  no  proof  that  it  does 
not  exist.  We  have  seen  that  a  Third  dimension 
would  be  equally  unknown  and  inconceivable 
to  a  being  limited  in  the  manner  described  above  ; 
although  we  know  that  a  third  dimension  does 
exist. 

We  have  only  to  suppose  that  analogous 
limitations  obtain  in  our  own  case  to  see  that 
a  Fourth  dimension  might  well  exist  of  which  we 
would  still  be  unaware. 

We  must,  for  instance,  suppose  that  we  have 
no  sense  organs  facing  that  way  and  that  we 
are  prevented  from  moving  in  that  direction 
by  some  circumstance  analogous  to  the  smooth 
sheet  on  which  we  supposed  the  plane  being  to 
live.  The  plane  being  would  think  that  he 
could  see  all  round  his  plane  objects  although 
we  know  that  he  could  not  really  do  so,  and 
similarly  our  conviction  that  we  can  see  all  round 
our  solid  objects  may  be  an  illusion. 

Thus  we  are  already  in  a  position  to  appreciate 
the  fact  that  our  inability  to  perceive  or  imagine 
Four-dimensional  space  or  objects  in  it,  is  no 
argument  against  its  existence.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  '  a  priori '  reason  for  supposing  that 
four  dimensional  space  is  not  a  reality.  It  is 


14       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

a   point   which   must   be  settled   by  an   appeal 
to  the  evidence. 

If,  in  the  course  of  our  investigation,  we  find 
that  there  are  in  our  space  phenomena,  which 
closely  resemble  those  which  would  in  "  two 
space  "  indicate  the  existence  of  a  third  dimension, 
then  we  shall  be  entitled  to  say  that  these 
phenomena  indicate  the  probable  existence  of  a 
fourth  dimension. 

We  can  now  proceed  with  our  consideration 
of  a  two  dimensional  world,  remembering  that, — 
Shapes  and  events  in  four  space  bear  to 
shapes  and  events  in  three  space,  the  same 
relation  that  those  in  three  space  bear 
to  those  in  two  space. 

The  very  small  three-dimensional  thickness 
which  we  have  supposed  to  exist  in  all  the  objects 
of  our  plane  world  is  imperceptible  to  the 
plane  beings  which  inhabit  it  and  the  objects 
which  they  perceive  they  will  accordingly  think  of 
as  geometrical  figures  and  of  their  boundaries 
as  geometrical  lines,  having  length  but  no  breadth. 
A  circle  will  appear  to  a  plane  being  as  a 
completely  closed  space.  He  will,  as  he  thinks, 
be  able  to  go  all  round  it  without  being  able  to 
find  any  opening  in  its  bounding  line.  It  will 
in  fact  be  to  him  what  a  sphere  is  to  us.  A 
two  space  room  will  be  a  thing  like  the  figure 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  15 

shown  in  Fig.    50.     He  will  be  able  to  get  into 

or  out  of  it  by  the 
gap  in  the  wall 
which  is  shown  and 
which  corresponds 

nto  the  door.  But 
he  will  not  be  able 
to  conceive  of  any 

other  mode  of  entry  or  exit,  although  we  can 
see  that  from  the  direction  of  the  third  dimension 
it  is  not  closed  at  all.  Similarly,  if  Fig.  56 
represents  a  closed  two  -  dimensional  box,  we 
see  that  this  is  absolutely  open  to  us,  who  are 
three  dimensional  beings,  though  appearing  to 
be  closed  on  all  sides  to  a  plane  being.  If  we 
took  advantage  of  this  fact  we  could  play  all 
sorts  of  tricks  on  him  for  we  could  put  things 
into  the  box  or  take  them  out  of  it,  by  way  of 
the  third  dimension,  while  to  the  plane  being 
the  box  would  appear  to  be  tightly  closed  the 
whole  time.  It  will  be  noticed  that  as  the 
path  of  an  object  in  transference  would  lie 
wholly  outside  the  plane  being's  space  he  would 
not  be  able  to  form  any  conception  of  the  nature 
of  the  process  involved.  If  he  tried  to  under- 
stand it  at  all  he  would  probably  imagine  that  the 
object  has  been  disintegrated  into  particles  inside 
the  box,  passed  in  this  condition  through  the 


i6      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

minute  interstices  which  he  might  suppose  to  exist 
in  its  walls,  and  reintegrated  on  the  other  side. 
Whereas  the  true  explanation  is  far  simpler. 
The  very  great  importance  of  this  will  become 
apparent  when  we  come  to  consider  the  question 
of  the  positive  evidences  for  the  existence  of  a 
fourth  dimension. 

It  is  because  of  this  importance  that  I  have 
dwelt  on  a  point  which  to  many  readers  will  have 
been  obvious  as  soon  as  stated. 

Similarly  we  could  make  things  appear  "  from 
nowhere "  and  disappear  equally  mysteriously 
simply  by  putting  them  down  on  to  his  flat 
surface  and  picking  them  up  again. 

I  may  as  well  repeat  here  that  I  do  not 
for  a  moment  expect  that  the  reader  will  have 
been  able  to  visualise  four-dimensional  space. 
But  I  do  hope  that  he  will  have  seen  the  force 
of  the  analogy  and  will  be  prepared  to  admit 
that  so  far  as  we  have  gone  at  present 
four  dimensional  space  is  by  no  means  incon- 
ceivable though  it  may  not  be  distinctly 
imaginable. 

The  foregoing  is  really  all  that  is  necessary 
on  the  mathematical  or  theoretical  side  for  the 
understanding  of  the  basic  ideas  with  which  I  am 
dealing  but  for  the  benefit  of  those  readers  who 
like  that  sort  of  thing  I  have  added  a  few  simple 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  17 

propositions  and   extensions   of  the  analogy  in 
the  form  of  an  appendix. 

The  only  other  question  that  need  really 
concern  us  here  is  that  of  the  phenomena  of  change 
in  a  two-dimensional  world. 

We  have  already  seen  that  a  cube  laid  on 
a  flat  surface  will  present  to  a  plane  being,  in 
that  surface,  the  appearance  of  a  square.  It 
is  also  clear  that  if  it  is  pushed  through  the 
surface  it  will  continue  to  present  the  same 
appearance  until  it  has  passed  right  through, 
when  it  will  suddenly  vanish  away. 

He  would  be  unconscious  of  any  movement 
on  the  part  of  the  cube  unless  there  was  some 
difference  between  the  first  and  last  sections 
which  he  perceived. 

If,  for  instance,  the  bottom  face  was  red  and 
the  top  face  blue  he  would  be  conscious  of  a 
colour  change  on  the  part  of  the  square  which 
he  perceived.  It  would  start  by  being  red  and 
would  pass  through  various  shades  of  purple 
till,  just  before  its  final  disappearance,  it  would 
be  pure  blue.  But  now  suppose  that  it  was 
pressed  through  his  surface  not  "  normally " 
but  corner  wise  as  indicated  in  Fig.  6 — that  is 
to  say  with  one  of  its  corners  leading  and  one  of 
its  diagonals  vertical.  The  plane  being  would 
then  see  quite  a  different  set  of  figures.  First 


i8       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

would  be  a  point ;  this  would  grow  into  a  triangle 
which  would  increase  in  size  until  it  reached  a 


certain  maximum  when  it  would  begin  to  develope 
three  new  sides  at  its  corners  which  would  grow, 
at  the  expense  of  the  original  sides,  until  a  regular 
hexagon  was  produced  when  the  reverse  process 
would  set  in  and  the  hexagon  gradually  change 
back  into  a  triangle  which  in  turn  would  dwindle 
away  and  disappear.  It  is  easy  to  work  out 
what  would  happen  in  the  case  of  other  solids, 
e.g.,  Sphere,  Cone,  Tetrahedron,  etc.  All  such 
changes  would  appear  very  mysterious  to  the 
plane  being  if  he  had  formed  no  conception  of 
three  dimensional  space  or  the  shapes  of  bodies 
therein. 


FOUR-DIMENSIONAL  SPACE  19 

Let  us  now  extend  this  idea  rather  further. 

Suppose  we  were  to  take  a  series  of  cinemato- 
graph pictures  of  the  two-dimensional  world, 
from  the  direction  of  the  third  dimension.  We 
should  obtain  a  succession  of  pictures  each 
representing  the  precise  state  of  affairs  at  some 
given  moment  in  the  two  space  world.  Every 
thing  in  it  would  be  represented  in  each.  There 
would  be  no  question  of  one  thing  being  hidden 
by  another  because  we  are  regarding  them  all 
from  the  direction  of  the  third  dimension  in 
which  they  have  an  inappreciable  extension. 
If  we  imagine  the  two  space  world  to  be  very  small 
or  our  camera  to  be  very  large  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  supposing  that  each  of  our  pictures 
includes  the  whole  of  the  two  space  universe, — 
plane  beings,  earth,  sun,  planets,  etc.,  all  complete. 

Imagine  further  that  these  pictures  are 
reproduced,  as  cinematograph  films  actually  are, 
on  a  transparent  substance  and  then  let  us 
superimpose  these  successive  pictures  on  one 
another  in  order  so  as  to  form  a  block.  By  this 
means  we  can  represent  the  disposition  of  all 
the  objects  in  a  two  space  system  at  a  number 
of  successive  instants  in  one  single  three 
space  figure.  For  instance,  the  motion  of  a  two 
space  planet  round  its  sun  would  become  a 
part  of  a  helix  or  spiral.  If  we  now  cut  away 


20        THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

from  our  block  all  the  blank  material  which 
intervenes  between  the  representations  of  the 
various  two  space  objects  we  shall  have  a 
complete  synthesis  in  three  space  of  a  succession 
of  two  space  arrangements.  If  we  were  now  to 
pass  this  three  space  object  through  a  penetrable 
two  space  surface,  e.g.,  a  soap  film,  we  should 
exactly  reproduce  for  the  two  space  beings  in 
it  the  changes  which  we  had  originally  recorded. 

By  analogy  we  can  see  that  it  would  be  possible 
to  account  for  all  the  changes  in  our  three- 
dimensional  space  by  supposing  them  to  be  due 
to  the  passage  through  it  of  suitably  shaped  and 
arranged  four-dimensional  solids,  of  which  we 
only  perceive  at  any  moment  a  section  whose 
extension  in  the  fourth  dimension  is  imperceptibly 
small. 

It  will  appear  later  that  I  do  not  think  that  this 
is  literally  the  case.  The  point  I  want  to  make 
here  is  that  the  phenomena  of  change  or 
successive  arrangement  in  space  of  a  given 
dimensionality  are  capable  of  explanation  in 
terms  of  forms  in  the  next  space  higher,  which 
latter  do  not  change  within  themselves. 

The  precise  import  of  this  will  appear  when  we 
come  to  consider  the  bearing  of  the  higher  space 
theory  on  the  problem  of  the  nature  of  Time. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE   SCOPE   OF  APPLICATION   AND   PROBABLE 
IMPORTANCE     OF     THE     HIGHER-SPACE     CONCEPTS. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  tried  to  explain 
what  is  meant  by  the  term  "  four-dimensional 
space "  and  to  demonstrate  some  of  its  more 
important  properties  from  the  point  of  view 
of  ourselves  who  live  in  space  of  three  dimensions. 

I  am  now  in  a  position  to  state  the  basic 
hypothesis  which  I  propose  to  discuss  in  the  pages 
which  follow. 

Briefly  stated  it  is  this  : — 

"  Higher  space  is  a  Physical  reality  and  not 
a  mere  mathematical  idea.  In  waking  life 
the  individual  consciousness  functions  in  a  three- 
dimensional  '  vehicle/  namely  the  physical  body. 
But  it  may  also  possess  at  least  one  other  vehicle 
— a  four-dimensional  one — and  in  this  it  may 
function  after  death  and,  possibly,  during  sleep, 
trance,  anaesthesia  and  other  forms  of  insensi- 
bility." 

This  hypothesis  is  not  my  own  and  I  am  not 
prepared  to  defend  it  as  being  necessarily  correct. 
But,  as  I  hope  to  show,  there  are  a  number  of 

21  c 


22       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

considerations    which    tend    to    support    it    and 
I  do  think  it  is  sufficiently  plausible  to  make  i 
worthy  of  serious  consideration  before  it  is  finally 
rejected   by   those   who   are   students    of   these 
matters. 

In  this  chapter  I  propose  to  deal  with  the 
different  ways  in  which  it  is  likely  to  prove  of 
importance. 

First  of  all,  then,  it  has  strong  claims  to  be 
adopted  as  a  working  hypothesis  by  those  who  are 
students  of  Psychical  Research,  especially  by 
those  who  are  convinced  of  the  validity  of  the 
Spiritistic  explanation  of  communications  pur- 
porting to  emanate  from  the  deceased. 

Secondly,  I  believe  that  if  accepted  as  valid 
it  would  do  much  to  provide  a  common  meeting 
ground  for  opposite  schools  of  religious  and 
scientific  thought.  Between  these  there  was 
a  most  marked  and  unfortunate  cleavage  during 
last  century  and  though  there  has  been  a  very 
considerable  rapprochement  since  the  days  when 
controversy  was  at  its  height  there  is  still  much 
to  be  done  before  we  can  hope  for  a  complete 
community  of  thought  and  expression. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  these  two 
spheres  of  application  are  very  closely  allied, 
but  it  is  none  the  less  convenient  to  separate 
them  for  purposes  of  discussion, 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  23 

THE    NEED    OF    A    WORKING    HYPOTHESIS    IN 
PSYCHIC   SCIENCE. 

The  studies  of  Psychical  Researchers  must 
necessarily  cover  a  very  wide  area  which  is 
bounded  on  the  one  hand  by  Physical  science 
proper,  on  another  by  Philosophy,  on  a  third  by 
Psychology  and  on  a  fourth  by  Religion.  With 
each  of  these  subjects  it  has  close  relations  and 
yet  possesses  features  which  serve  to  distinguish 
it  from  any  of  them. 

Sir  William  Barrett  writes  as  follows  of  the 
scope  of  Psychical  Research  : 

"  The  subjects  to  be  considered  cover  a  wide 
range,  from  unconscious  muscular  action  to  the 
mysterious  operation  of  our  sub-conscious  self ; 
from  telepathy  to  apparitions  at  the  moment  of 
death  ;  from  hypnotism  and  the  therapeutic 
effects  of  suggestion  to  crystal-gazing  and  the 
emergence  of  hidden  human  faculties  ;  from 
clairvoyance,  or  the  alleged  perception  of  objects 
without  the  use  of  the  ordinary  channels  of  sense, 
to  dowsing,  or  the  finding  of  under-ground 
water  and  metallic  lodes  with  the  so-called 
divining-rod;  from  the  reported  hauntings  of 
certain  places  to  the  mischievous  pranks  of 
poltergeists  (or  boisterous  but  harmless  ghosts 
whose  asserted  freaks  may  have  given  rise  both 
to  fetishism  and  fairies)  ;  from  the  inexplicable 


24       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

sounds  and  movement  of  objects  without  assign- 
able cause  to  the  thaumaturgy  of  the  spiritualis- 
tic seance  ;  from  the  scribbling  of  planchette  and 
automatic  writing  generally  to  the  alleged  opera- 
tion of  unseen  and  intelligent  agents  and  the 
possibility  of  experimental  evidence  of  human 
survival  after  death." 

(Psychical  Research,  p.  10). 
In  view  of  the  heterogeneous  nature  of  this  list 
I  do  not  think  it  practicable  to  frame  any  hard 
and  fast  definition  of  Psychical  Research.  More- 
over certain  of  the  phenomena  which  it  once 
studied — such  as  Hypnotism — have  been  largely 
taken  over  by  "orthodox"  science,  and  others, 
such  as  Telepathy  and  Clairvoyance,  although  of 
great  intrinsic  interest  and  some  relevance,  may 
ultimately  be  regarded  as  comparatively  remote 
from  the  main  body  of  psychic  phenomena. 

Roughly  speaking,  the  characteristic  feature 
of  the  latter  is  a  suspicion,  or  prima  facie  appear- 
ance, or  allegation  that  they  emanate  from,  or 
are  in  some  way  connected  with  the  activities 
of  extra-mundane  intelligences — notably  the 
"  spirits  of  "  the  deceased. 

It  is  this  feature  which  has  caused  their 
rejection  by  the  sciences  with  which  they  would 
naturally  appear  to  be  associated  and  although 
our  studies  may  in  many  cases  show  that  the 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  25 

appearance  is  wholly  spurious  it  must  be 
remembered  that,  until  every  phenomenon  is 
so  disposed  of  and  relegated  to  its  appropriate 
"  orthodox  "  science,  the  ultimate  problem  of 
Psychical  Research  is  largely  a  matter  of 
the  provision  of  answers  to  such  questions 
as  : — 

"  Is  there  any  scientifically  valid  reason  for 
supposing  that  Individual  Human  Personality 
survives  bodily  death  ?  " 

"  If  so,  under  what  conditions  does  it  persist  ?  " 

"  What  is  the  relation  between  these  new 
conditions  and  those  with  which  we  are 
acquainted  ?  " 

Any  investigation  into  Human  Personality 
of  a  scope  less  than  this  can  be  included  under 
the  heads  of  Physiology  or  Psychology  which 
are  prepared  to  investigate  any  conceivable 
intricacy  in  the  mental  or  bodily  states  of  the 
living. 

It  is  only  when  the  investigator  refuses  to  be 
limited  by  bodily  death  that  Psychic  science 
differentiates  itself  as  a  separate  study. 

I  do  not  propose  to  consider  here  whether 
psychical  research  has  yet  given  any  satisfactory 
answer  to  the  above  mentioned  questions  or  even 
whether  there  is  any  considerable  chance  of  its 
ever  being  able  to  do  so. 


26       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

I  merely  wish  to  point  out  the  nature  of 
the  problems  with  which  it  is  concerned 
and  which  alone  distinguish  it  as  a  separate 
science. 

It  follows  that  any  hypothesis  advanced  with 
a  view  to  co-ordinating  the  observed  facts  may 
find  itself  called  upon  to  give  an  intelligible 
explanation  of  discarnate  personalities,  that  is 
to  say  of  human  personalities  not  functioning 
through  the  flesh  and  blood  bodies  in  which  we 
are  accustomed  to  meet  them. 

So  far  as  our  present  knowledge  goes  and 
on  the  balance  of  all  the  available  evidence  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  this  necessity  is  at 
least  imminent. 

The  adoption  of  some  form  of  working 
hypothesis  is  moreover  imperative  in  the  light 
of  scientific  history. 

All  who  are  interested  in  psychical  research  will 
agree  that  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  desirable 
that  it  should  be  recognised  as  a  Science  of  a 
dignity  commensurate  with  its  intrinsic  import- 
ance and  on  a  level  with  the  sciences  more 
generally  accepted  as  such. 

That  it  has  not,  hitherto,  attained  this  position 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  in  general  is  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  it  has  not  yet  fully  reached 
that  stage  of  development  which  chiefly 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  27 

distinguishes  a  science  properly  so  called  from 
mere  speculatory  observation. 

This  is  no  reflection  on  the  many  able  and 
genuinely  scientific  men  who  have  worked  on  the 
subject  ever  since  it  first  became  prominent 
in  modern  times  some  seventy  years  ago  but  is, 
on  the  contrary,  a  necessary  and  inevitable  stage 
in  the  growth  of  any  science  whatsoever. 

The  processes  of  acquiring  scientific  knowledge 
are  as  invariable  as  those  of  logical  thought. 
Just  as  all  accurate  reasoning  may  be  reduced 
to  a  series  of  syllogisms,  so  the  process  of 
acquiring  exact  knowledge  may  be  reduced  to 
a  series  of  analogous  sequences. 

These  are  : — (i)  Observation. 

(2)  Induction. 

(3)  Deduction. 

(4)  Experiment. — A  special  form 

of  observation. 

I  do  not  say  that  this  sequence  of  operations 
is  always  consciously  performed  any  more  than 
when  "  thinking*  a  thing  out "  we  always 
consciously  reduce  our  reasoning  to  its  simplest 
syllogistic  constituents. 

But  every  time  we  acquire  a  new  item  of 
knowledge  it  would  be  possible  to  reduce  the 
process  by  which  we  acquired  it  to  a  series  of 
the  sequences  mentioned  above. 


28        THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

It  is  worth  while  considering  these  steps  in 
slightly  greater  detail. 

OBSERVATION  in  the  last  analysis  means 
no  more  than  the  recording  and  classifying  of 
sensations,  which  are  the  only  form  in  which 
we  get  any  information  as  to  the  outer  world. 

INDUCTION  means  the  process  of  concluding 
from  a  study  of  the  observed  and  collected  facts 
that  there  is  some  specific  co-ordinating  principle 
at  work  by  virtue  of  which  the  facts  exist.  This 
is  the  process  known  as  forming  a  working 
hypothesis. 

DEDUCTION.  In  this  stage  we  consider  more 
closely  the  working  hypothesis  which  we  have 
formulated,  and  we  conclude  that  if  it  be  true 
certain  other  consequences  must  inevitably  follow. 

EXPERIMENT.  This  simply  means  that  we 
turn  again  to  the  outside  world  and  examine 
it  to  see  whether  these  deduced  results  do 
actually  obtain  in  practice. 

If  they  do  we  argue  that  our  hypothesis  is, 
probably,  a  correct  one  and  we  retain  it  until 
it  is  shown  that  if  it  be  correct  some  result  must 
inevitably  occur  which  in  fact  does  not. 

There  is  a  difference  between  a  valid  hypothesis 
and  a  true  one — or,  as  the  latter  is  commonly 
termed,  a  Law. 


SCOPE   AND   IMPORTANCE  29 

Any  hypothesis  is  valid  which  explains  the 
observed  facts  or  at  least  explains  some  of  them 
and  contradicts  none.  But  the  epithet  "  true  " 
can  only  properly  be  applied  when  it  has  been 
shown  that  all  necessary  deductions  are  invariably 
borne  out  in  practice.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we 
can  never  say  this  with  absolute  certainty  for 
it  is  always  conceivable  that  some  exception 
may  some  day  be  found  which  would  necessitate 
the  remoulding  of  the  hypothesis. 

The  most  we  can  say  is  that  certain  hypotheses 
have  stood  the  test  in  such  a  very  large  number 
of  cases  without  a  single  failure  that  there  is 
a  very  high  degree  of  probability  that  they  are 
really  true. 

The  hypothesis  that  the  Chemical  "  Atom " 
was  the  ultimate  and  indivisible  unit  of  matter 
was  a  perfectly  valid  one  in  the  light  of  the  facts 
that  had  been  observed  at  the  time  of  its  formation 
and  of  its  apparent  proof  by  Lavoisier  and  others. 

It  is  only  the  facts  which  have  been  elicited 
by  the  study  of  lonisation,  of  Radio-active  sub- 
stances and  similar  phenomena  that  have  proved 
it  to  be  untenable  and  necessitated  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  electronic  theory. 

Again  the  Corpuscular  theory  of  light  affords 
a  very  pertinent  illustration  of  the  point  I  wish 
to  make. 


30       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

A  number  of  facts  regarding  the  phenomena 
of  light  were  observed  and  classified  and  it  was 
found  that  these  could  be  explained  by  the 
hypothesis  that  light  consisted  of  a  stream  of 
very  minute  particles  moving  at  very  high  speed 
which  impinged  upon  the  eye  and  thus  gave 
rise  to  the  sensations  observed.  Up  to  a  point 
this  explanation  was  perfectly  satisfactory  and 
for  a  long  time  it  held  the  field,  partly  because 
of  the  great  prestige  of  Newton  to  whom  much 
of  its  development  was  due  and  partly  because  it 
continued  to  explain  subsequently  observed  facts 
without  much  straining. 

But  among  other  things  it  was  demonstrated 
that  in  order  to  account  for  the  observed 
phenomena  of  refraction  it  was  necessary  to 
suppose  that  the  "  Corpuscles  "  travelled  faster 
in  water  than  in  air. 

At  first  there  was  no  means  of  determining 
directly  whether  this  was  so  or  not.  But  later 
the  researches  of  Foucault  made  it  possible 
to  settle  the  point  by  direct  measurement.  When 
the  velocity  of  light  in  air  and  water  respectively 
was  measured  directly  by  Foucault 's  method 
it  was  found  that  the  velocity  in  water  was 
less  than  that  in  air.  The  Corpuscular  theory 
was  therefore  untenable. 

It  is  only  by  this  process  of  forming,  testing 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  31 

and,  if  necessary,  rejecting  hypotheses  that  we 
gradually  attain  to  exact  knowledge.  As  Prof. 
Richet  says  : 

"  La   science    n'a   jamais   ete   qu'une   serie 

d'erreurs,   approximations  constamment  evol- 

uant  constamment  boulverse,  et  cela  d'autant 

plus  vite  qu'elle  etait  plus  avancee." 

(Annales  des  sciences  psychiques,  1905,  p.  15.) 

From  this  brief  resume  of  the  steps  involved  in 

scientific  progress  it  is  clear  that  the  formation 

of  a  working  hypothesis,  by  inductive  reasoning 

from  the  observed  facts,  is  a  normal,  necessary, 

and  invariable  step  in  the  progress  of  any  science 

whatsoever. 

For  this  reason  I  do  not  think  it  likely  that 
Psychical  research  will  attain  any  widespread 
recognition  as  a  science  until  it  is  in  possession 
of  a  valid  working  hypothesis  capable  of  explaining 
at  least  the  more  important  of  the  observed  facts. 
I  believe  that  the  higher  space  hypothesis  fulfills 
this  condition  and  if  so  it  is  clearly  worth  while 
adopting,  purely  provisionally  and  tentatively 
of  course,  by  those  who  concern  themselves  with 
the  subject. 

I  have  said  that  I  think  that  the  con- 
ception of  higher  space  has  a  bearing  on  the 
relations  between  Religious  and  Scientific 
thought. 


32       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

I  shall  reserve  for  a  later  chapter  the  treatment 
of  the  question  from  the  purely  religious  stand- 
point, and  shall  only  examine  here  the  reasons 
which  seem  to  me  to  have  led  so  many  sincere 
and  able  scientific  men  to  a  position  at  variance 
with  the  religious  and  spiritual  point  of  view. 

This  is,  of  course,  closely  bound  up  with  the 
whole  topic  of  the  various  attempts  which  have 
been  made  to  satisfy  the  perennial  demand  for 
light  on  the  mysteries  of  life  and  death  and  on 
the  spiritual  and  non-material  aspects  of  the 
universe. 

It  is  out  of  the  question  for  me  to  attempt  to 
classify  here  the  countless  religions,  sects,  and 
philosophies  which  have  arisen  from  time  to 
time.  But  they  do  seem  to  fall  into  three  main 
groups  and  although  it  is  impossible  to  label  these 
in  any  really  satisfactory  manner  I  think  one  may 
say  that  the  Materialistic  Scientists  are  the 
representatives  of  one  school,  the  Orthodox  Theo- 
logians of  another,  and  the  Occultists  of  a  third. 

By  the  Materialistic  Scientists  I  mean  those 
who  see  in  matter  or  ether  the  ultimate  and  only 
permanent  reality  and  who  attempt  to  explain 
every  experienced  phenomenon  in  terms  of  matter 
and  ether  and  of  these  only. 

According  to  their  view,  Thought,  Emotion, 
Consciousness,  are  no  more  than  electro-chemical 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  33 

changes  in  the  protoplasmic  constituents  of  the 
brain  cells.  '  The  brain  secretes  consciousness 
as  the  liver  secretes  bile." 

The  idea  of  "  spirit  "  is  inconceivable  to  them  ; 
for  the  whole  essence  of  Spirit  is  that  it  is  not 
matter  nor,  so  far  as  we  can  imagine,  ether. 

Now  although  this  attitude  is  utterly  repugnant 
to  me,  I  can  yet  easily  understand  and  sympathise 
with  the  state  of  mind  which  occasions  it.  I, 
too,  feel  that  if  there  is  one  thing  above  all  others 
to  which  one's  intellect  must  cling  at  all  costs 
it  is  the  general  proposition  of  the  coherence 
and  continuity  of  the  universe — in  other  words 
the  great  Law  of  Causation.  If  ever  we  let  go 
of  that  we  find  ourselves  in  chaos — which  is 
insanity. 

Within  the  "  ring-fence,"  so  to  speak,  of 
matter  and  energy  the  law  holds  good,  but 
anything  outside  appears  to  the  scientist  as 
"  discontinuous "  and  therefore,  quite  rightly, 
revolting.  As  against  this  point  of  view  my 
contention  is  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  form 
an  intelligible  concept  of  Reality,  different  from 
and  yet  perfectly  continuous  with,  the  physical 
reality  of  the  scientist. 

This  first  purely  materialistic  school  admits 
of  fairly  easy  delimitation  whereas  the  other  two 
schools  mingle  together  and  diverge  within 


34       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

themselves  in  so  complex  a  manner  that  it  is 
much  more  difficult  to  distinguish  them  from 
each  other  than  to  separate  either  of  them  from 
the  first.  But  I  think  the  difference  is  something 
of  this  kind.  The  school  of  which  the  Occultists 
are  typical  seem  to  me  to  tend  to  replace  logically 
coherent  explanation  by  mere  descriptive  nomen- 
clature. On  the  other  hand  the  Orthodox 
Theologians,  while  dogmatically  asserting  the 
existence  of  spirit  and  constantly  emphasising 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  spiritual  life, 
are  apt  to  ignore  the  intellectual  demand  for 
intelligible  explanation  altogether. 

It  is  merely  foolish  to  ignore  or  to  ridicule 
on  '  a  priori  '  grounds  the  statements  of  those 
who  claim  to  have  investigated  the  problems 
with  which  we  are  concerned  by  the  cultivation 
of  abnormal  or  commonly  latent  faculties. 

If  such  faculties  exist,  as  is  very  possible, 
it  is  clearly  no  more  than  common  sense  that 
they  should  be  exercised  to  the  full  in  the  solution 
of  problems  which  present  especial  difficulties 
to  the  more  normal  methods  of  investigation. 
The  results  might  be  of  the  very  highest  possible 
value.  Indeed,  it  may  well  be  that  the  cultiva- 
tion of  such  faculties  is  by  far  the  best  way  of 
attacking  the  whole  question.  I  am  by  no 
means  prepared  dogmatically  to  deny  it.  None 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  35 

the  less  I  think  we  are  entitled  to  expect  that 
those  who  claim  to  have  attained  knowledge  by 
these  means  should  take  some  pains  to  make 
their  results  continuous  with  existing  knowledge 
and  to  eliminate  needless  obscurities. 

At  present  the  application  of  the  word 
"  Science  "  to  the  utterances  of  the  Occult  schools 
— as  commonly  presented — is  a  complete 
misnomer. 

In  Theosophical  literature,  for  instance,  we 
are  confronted  with  a  scheme  of  things  built 
up  of  such  terms  as  "  Astral  Plane,"  "  Etheric 
Double,"  Causal  Body,"  "  Karma  "  and  so  forth. 

With  all  due  deference  to  my  Theosophical 
friends  I  submit  that  this  is  not  scientific  explana- 
tion and  cannot  be  so  unless  its  exponents  are 
prepared  to  tell  us  what  is  the  relation  between 
the  astral  plane  and  the  physical  world,  between 
the  etheric  double  and  the  body  as  known  to 
physiologists. 

Thus  it  is  intellectually  unsatisfying  and  little 
calculated  to  arouse  the  sympathetic  interest 
of  the  strictly  logical  thinker. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  none  of  the  words 
of  the  type  quoted  have  any  real  significance. 
On  the  contrary  I  think  it  very  probable  that 
many  of  them  have  and  that  they  do  represent 
real  parts  of  the  actual  scheme  of  things.  The 


36 

trouble  is  that  they  are  only  names  ;  and  to 
name  a  thing  is  not  the  same  as  to  explain  it. 
In  common  fairness  I  ought,  however,  to  admit 
that  in  several  passages  Mr.  Leadbeater — one 
of  the  best  known  Theosophical  writers — makes 
a  distinct  effort  to  escape  from  this  tendency 
and  it  has  further  been  opined  by  a  very  eminent 
Occultist  that  the  bulk  of  contemporary  literature 
on  the  subject  will  be  out  of  date  in  a  few  years. 

I  am  inclined  to  suspect  that  this  failing  was 
the  cause  he  had  in  mind. 

I  repeat  that  my  primary  quarrel  is  not  with 
the  accuracy  or  otherwise  of  the  statements 
made.  Every  word  of  them  may  be  perfectly 
correct,  but  so  long  as  they  are  expressed  in  terms 
wholly  unrelated  to  pre-existing  concepts  I  must, 
qua  scientist,  remain  unconvinced. 

The  third  school  which  includes  the  Orthodox 
Theologians  sometimes  resembles  the  Occultists 
in  the  use  of  unintelligible  terms  but  their  chief 
weakness  is  their  failure  to  recognise  and  to  cater 
for  the  intellectual  demand  for  coherent 
explanation. 

They  never  weary  of  insisting,  quite  rightly, 
on  the  paramount  importance  of  Spiritual  things, 
but  no  effort  is  made  to  show  the  continuity  which 
must,  in  a  sane  Cosmos,  exist  between  Matter 
and  Spirit,  or  to  state  the  "  common  factor," 


SCOPE  AND  IMPORTANCE  37 

so  to  speak,  which  unites  them  as  parts  of  a 
coherent  whole. 

For  myself  I  refuse  to  believe  that  no  such 
common  factor  is  discoverable.  As  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  says,  "  I  have  learned  to  believe  in 
intelligibility." 

This  omission  on  the  part  of  theologians  did 
not  so  much  matter  in  the  days  before  Physical 
Science  had  attained  to  its  present  degree  of 
development.  Men  knew  so  little  about  the 
material  Universe  that  they  experienced  little 
difficulty  in  finding  a  place  in  it  for  Spirit  and 
the  Spiritual  life.  "  Heaven  "  was  conveniently 
represented  as  being  somewhere  "  above  "  and 
"  Hell  "  as  somewhere  "  below."  But  now  things 
have  altered  and  we  know  quite  a  fair  amount 
about  the  material  world.  Consequently  the 
scientist  demands — not  unreasonably,  I  think — 
an  explanation  of  "  Spirit  "  which  shall  not  con- 
flict with  the  fundamental  laws  of  continuity 
and  causation. 

So  far  the  theologians  have  failed  to  meet  this 
demand  and  to  provide  the  necessary  habitat 
for  consciousness  which  shall  be  independent  of, 
and  yet  causally  continuous  with,  the  material 
world  which  the  scientist  knows. 

It  is  this  illogical  discontinuity  which  has 
alienated  the  sympathies  of  so  many  men  of 

D 


38      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

scientific  mind  and  forced  them  to  attempt  to 
reduce  all  mental  and  spiritual  phenomena  to 
terms  of  matter. 

The  foregoing  should  be  sufficient  to  show  how 
important  it  is  that  Psychical  Research — the 
connecting  link  between  the  study  of  the  material 
and  that  of  the  purely  spiritual — should  adopt 
as  soon  as  possible  some  form  of  working 
hypothesis  which  is  not  repugnant  either  to 
religious  or  scientific  thought.  It  is  only  by 
doing  this  that  we  can  hope  to  retain  the 
sympathies  of  both  classes  of  thinkers  and  this 
is  surely  worth  an  effort  quite  apart  from  all 
other  considerations.  Here  again  I  believe  that 
the  higher  space  hypothesis  meets  the  require- 
ments of  the  case  and  this  is  my  second  chief 
reason  for  urging  its  adoption. 


CHAPTER    III 


In  this  chapter  I  propose  to  give  some  instances 
of  the  way  in  which  the  higher  space  hypothesis 
throws  light  on  certain  Psychic  Phenomena  which, 
without  its  aid,  appear  extremely  obscure  and 
difficult  of  explanation,  but  I  shall  make  no 
attempt  to  cover  the  whole  range  of  phenomena 
known  to  students. 

Some  are  not  yet,  in  my  opinion,  sufficiently 
well  authenticated  to  necessitate  consideration, 
and  those  which  are,  some — such  as  Telekinesis, 
Prevision,  and  certain  aspects  of  unconsciousness 
— are  more  conveniently  treated  in  later  chapters  ; 
others  are  so  mysterious  as  to  render  any  attempt 
at  explanation  premature  until  we  have  a  wider 
and  firmer  foundation  of  fact  on  which  to  build ; 
others  again,  such  as  thought  transference  or 
Telepathy,  will  probably  prove  explicable  without 

39 


40       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

introducing  the  Higher  Space  hypothesis  in  any 
direct  connection. 

There  are  some,  however,  which  may  well  be 
considered  here. 

The  first,  and  by  far  the  most  important 
problem  which  confronts  us  in  attempting  to 
form  an  idea  of  post-mortem  conditions,  or  of 
the  existence  of  personality  apart  from  the 
physical  body,  lies  in  the  fact  that  we  cannot 
conceive  of  personality  as  absolutely  disembodied 
— as  pure  essence.  Yet  we  know  that  if 
personality  does  in  fact  survive  physical  death, 
it  must  do  so  in  some  form,  completely  non- 
material  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  which 
is  invisible,  impalpable,  in  short  entirely 
imperceptible,  to  our  normal  senses. 

Probably  it  is  the  difficulty  of  conceiving  such 
a  mode  of  existence  which  has  chiefly  prevented 
physical  scientists,  as  a  whole,  from  accepting 
the  obvious  interpretation  of  the  evidence  for 
Survival  offered  by  various  Psychic  phenomena. 

Few  people,  I  think,  who  have  studied  the 
literature  of  the  subject,  would  be  prepared  to 
deny  that  Survival  is,  at  least,  strongly  indicated 
by  the  evidence  in  question. 

But  this  difficulty  of  conceiving  a  state  of 
existence,  at  once  real  and  non-physical,  has 
induced  scientists  to  prefer  to  seek  an  explanation 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  41 

of  the  observed  facts  in  terms  of  Thought  trans- 
ference, Secondary  personality  and  so  forth.* 

But  as  soon  as  we  introduce  the  concept  of  the 
Fourth  Dimension  this  difficulty  disappears. 

We  have  but  to  suppose  that  after  physical 
death  the  Individual  consciousness  is  embodied 
in  a  vehicle  organised,  not  from  physical  matter, 
but  from  Four-dimensional  matter,  i.e.,  that 
which,  in  four  space,  corresponds  to  what  we 
call  "  Matter  "  in  three  space. 

Such  a  vehicle  fulfills  the  required  conditions 
in  every  way.  It  is  scientifically  real — that  is 
to  say,  it  has  its  habitat  in  a  region  as  subject 
to  law  and  as  susceptible  to  mathematical  analysis 
as  the  three  dimensional  world  in  which  we  at 
present  live. 

And  yet  it  must  be  supposed  to  be,  of  its  very 
nature,  inapprehensible  by  our  normal  physical 
senses. 

We  are  thus  enabled  to  understand  how  those 
who  have  left  this  physical  world  may,  although 
discarnate,  be  none  the  less  as  truly  alive  as  ever, 
close  to  us  and  yet  invisible,  constantly  in  touch 
with  us  and  yet  beyond  our  normal  ken. 

This   is   the   first    and   supremely   important 

*  Far  be  it  from  me  to  suggest  that  these  last-mentioned 
factors  play  no  part  in  the  phenomena.  On  the  contrary, 
their  effect  is  at  least  very  considerable,  and  does  much  to 
obscure  and  complicate  the  work  of  interpretation. 


42      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

application  of  the  hypothesis  and  it  is  impossible 
to  over-emphasise  it. 

Of  the  more  specific  phenomena  suitable  for 
discussion  here,  I  will  first  deal  with  Clairvoyance. 

This  is  probably  far  from  being  a  simple 
phenomenon  of  unvarying  nature.  There  would 
appear  to  be  at  least  four  varieties  and  it  is 
possible  that  as  our  knowledge  of  the  subject 
increases  we  shall  come  to  recognise  still  more. 

The  four  at  present  distinguishable  may  be 
denoted  as  follows  : — 

(1)  So-called  "  Etheric  Clairvoyance."     This 
is  apparently  no  more  than  a  heightening  of 
the  ordinary  powers  of  vision. 

(2)  Perception  of  objects  and  contemporary 
events  more  or  less  removed  in  space  from  the 
percipient  and  invisible  by  ordinary  means. 

(3)  Perception    of    non-material    objects    or 
events  ;    as  when  a  clairvoyant  describes  the 
appearance   of   a   deceased   person   alleged  to 
be  present  in  "  spirit  form." 

(4)  Clairvoyance  in   time     That   is   to   say 
the  perception  of  future  events — Prevision — 
or  of  past  events — Postvision. 

Instances  of  each  of  these  four  forms  are  abundant 
and  amply  verified  except,  perhaps,  in  the  case 
of  class  3  where  verification  is  scarcely  possible. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  43 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  clairvoyance  of 
the  first  type  arises.  We  know  that  light  consists 
of  very  rapid  vibrations  in  the  ether  which 
impinge  upon  the  retina  and  cause  the  sensation 
of  sight.  We  also  know  that  if  a  beam  of  white 
light  is  passed  through  a  triangular  glass  prism 
it  is  bent  aside  and  split  up  into  the  seven  colours 
of  the  rainbow,  viz.,  Red,  Orange,  Yellow,  Green, 
Blue,  Indigo,  and  Violet.  The  resulting  band  of 
colour  is  called  a  Spectrum.  If  the  Spectrum 
so  obtained  is  thrown  upon  a  screen  and  a  number 
of  people  are  asked  to  mark  thereon  the  limits 
of  what  they  can  see  it  will  be  found  that  these 
limits  vary  considerably.  » 

We  know,  too,  that  there  is  a  wide  range  of 
light-vibrations  beyond  the  furthest  of  these 
visible  limits,  for  although  our  eyes  do  not  respond 
to  them  the  photographic,  plate  does.  We  also 
know  that  some  of  these  vibrations  will  penetrate 
substances  which  are  opaque  to  ordinary  light 
although  the  opposite  is  the  case  for  some 
substances.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with 
"  ultra-violet  "  light  which  consists  of  vibrations 
more  rapid  even  than  those  of  violet  light  which 
are  themselves  the  most  rapid  in  all  the  visible 
spectrum.  It  seems  reasonable  therefore  to 
suppose  that  certain  people  with  abnormal 
retinae  or  in  an  abnormal  condition  might  be 


44       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

especially  sensitive  to  these  ultra-violet  rays 
and  that  they  might  not  only  see  things  invisible 
to  us  but  even  see  them  through  obstacles  which 
are  opaque  to  the  sort  of  light  to  which  normal 
eyes  respond. 

This  explanation  may  serve  for  certain  simple 
cases  of  clairvoyant  vision  but  it  soon  breaks 
down  because  the  visual  image  of  any  object 
seen  in  this  way  must  be  liable  to  confusion 
by  the  superimposed  images  of  intervening 
objects. 

Suppose  for  instance  that  a  clairvoyant  wishes 
to  see,  by  this  method,  what  is  written  on  page 
100  of  a  closed  book.  We  will  suppose  that  the 
covers  and  paper  of  the  book  are  transparent 
to  some  kind  of  ultra-violet  light  to  which  the 
eye  of  the  clairvoyant  responds,  whereas  the 
ink  is  opaque  to  the  same  light. 

On  looking  at  the  book  the  writing  on  page 
100  would  be  visible  all  right,  but  so  would  that 
on  the  preceding  99  pages  ;  it  would,  therefore, 
be  practically  impossible  to  read  the  looth 
page. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  clairvoyance 
of  this  type  must  be  of  very  limited  scope  and 
cannot  be  held  to  account  for  cases  of  the  second 
type  where  the  clairvoyant  perceives  events 
happening  at  a  considerable  distance,  amounting 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  45 

in  some  instances  to  a  matter  of  hundreds  of 

miles. 

I  freely  admit  that  at  present  I  am  not  prepared 

to  give  an  explanation  of  all  cases  where  the 

distances  involved  are  very  large. 

But  to  cases  where  the  incidents  or  objects 

perceived    are   reasonably    near   the    percipient, 

the  higher  space  hypothesis  offers  a  simple  and 

elegant  solution. 

Consider  the  two  dimensional  analogue. 
Suppose  that  "  A  "  Fig.  7,  represents  a  two- 
dimensional  observer  and 
that  X,  Y,  and  Z  are  two- 
dimensional  closed  spaces, 
rooms,  houses,  or  what  not. 
The  interiors  of  these  closed 
spaces  will  be  invisible  to 
"  A."  All  he  will  be  able 
to  see  will  be  a  straight 
line  as  at  "  B/'  for  the 

boundaries  of  X,  Y,  and  Z  will  be  opaque  and 

impassable  to  him. 

But  now  suppose  that  he  were  to  be  lifted  up 

vertically,  out  of  the  plane  of  the  paper  altogether. 

He  would  from  this  new  position  be  able  to  see 

the  interiors  of  X,  Y,  and  Z,  together  with  any 

two    space    incidents    occurring    therein.     They 

would    present    approximately   the   appearance 


46       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

shown  in  Fig.  7  and  the  degree  of  foreshortening 
would  diminish  with  the  height  to  which  he 
ascended  above  the  plane  of  the  paper. 

In  a  precisely  analogous  manner  we  must 
suppose  that  three-dimensional  obstructions  do 
not  exist  for,  and  that  the  interiors  of  closed 
three-dimensional  spaces  are  entirely  open  to, 
anyone  who  could  regard  them  from  a  point 
situated  in  four  space,  i.e.,  removed  from  three 
space  to  a  suitable  distance  in  the  direction  of 
the  fourth  dimension.  The  greater  this  distance 
the  less  will  be  the  foreshortening  and  the  greater 
will  be  the  range  of  vision. 

There  would  be  no  question  of  intervening 
objects  obscuring  the  view,  simply  because,  in 
four  space,  three  space  objects  do  not  intervene 
— the  view  of  X  in  Fig  7  is  in  no  way  obscured 
by  the  presence  of  Y  or  Z. 

Compare  with  this  the  statements  of  many 
clairvoyants  to  the  effect  that  when  in  the  clair- 
voyant state  they  can,  and  do,  see  the  front, 
sides,  back,  and  every  internal  point  of  three 
space  objects  simultaneously. 

The  parallel  is  almost  irresistisible  in  its 
significance.  Compare  also  the  following  case 
given  by  Professor  de  Morgan,  and  which  is 
typical  of  the  very  numerous  cases  of  this  nature 
on  record. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  47 

In  this  case  the  percipient  was  a  little  girl 
who  was  undergoing  mesmeric  treatment  for  fits  by 
Mrs.  de  Morgan.  While  in  the  mesmeric  state  she 
was  desired  to  follow  Professor  de  Morgan  mentally 
to  the  house  at  which  he  was  dining  and  which 
was  totally  unknown  to  the  child.  The  girl 
got  there  at  once  and  gave  an  accurate  description 
of  the  room  in  which  the  Professor  was,  the 
furniture  which  it  contained,  the  people  to  whom 
he  was  talking  and  various  small  incidents 
which  took  place.  On  his  return  Professor 
de  Morgan  confirmed  every  detail  of  the 
description. 

This  is,  of  course,  a  very  condensed  resume 
of  the  occurrence.  Interested  readers  should 
consult  contemporary  Psychic  literature  which 
abounds  with  such  cases.  The  point  is  that 
no  amount  of  retinal  hypersensibility  will  so 
much  as  begin  to  explain  this  sort  of  case,  whereas 
it  is  not  so  utterly  incomprehensible  when  we 
introduce  the  idea  that  the  percipient  may  have 
been  seeing  four-dimensionally. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe  that  the 
sense  organs  involved  cannot  be  the  physical 
eyes.  They  must  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the 
four  dimensional  vehicle. 

In  attempting  to  explain  this  second  type  of 
clairvoyance  along  these  lines,  there  seem  to 


48       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

be  two  main  difficulties  involved  and  these  are 
admittedly  very  great. 

First,  how  is  it  that  the  four  space  vehicle 
possesses  organs  capable  of  perceiving  three 
space  objects  and  incidents  ?  One  would 
expect  it  to  respond  to  four  space  impressions 
only. 

Secondly,  as  soon  as  the  distances  involved 
become  more  than  quite  small  it  is  very  difficult 
to  conceive  how  the  percipient  can  simultaneously 
describe  the  events  by  the  use  of  physical  speech 
mechanism  and  also  perceive  them  from  a  point 
of  view  which  must  be  supposed  to  be  very  con- 
siderably removed  in  the  direction  of  the  fourth 
dimension. 

A  correspondent  of  my  own  who  appears  to 
possess  this  power  of  clairvoyance  at  a  distance 
in  a  remarkable  degree  and  to  be  able  to  exercise 
it  at  will,  tells  me  that  when  she  is  seeing  a  distant 
scene,  she  is  yet  so  closely  in  touch  with  her 
physical  body  that  she  is  conscious  of  moving 
her  hand,  for  example. 

It  is  difficult  to  account  for  this  on  the  four 
dimensional  or  any  other  theory. 

I  have  no  wish  to  minimise  these  difficulties 
or  to  claim  that  the  introduction  of  the  Higher 
space  hypothesis  clears  up  the  whole  matter. 
It  does  nothing  of  the  sort. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  49 

But  it  does  give  us  a  dim  inkling  of  what  the 
general  nature  of  the  causes  at  work  may  be, 
especially  as  regards  the  power  of  "  internal 
vision  "  mentioned  above  and  which  I  particularly 
wish  to  emphasise. 

This  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  any  alternative 
theory  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 

Future  study  will  probably  show  that  this 
class  of  phenomena  is  far  from  simple  and  is 
really  capable  of  being  resolved  into  a  number 
of  sub-classes,  each  requiring  its  own  appropriate 
explanation. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Mr.  C.  W.  Lead- 
beater,  the  well-known  Theosophical  writer  and 
clairvoyant,  definitely  introduces  the  four- 
dimensional  concept  in  his  book  on  Clairvoyance 
and  ascribes  the  power  of  long-range  perception 
to  the  intervention  of  what  he  calls  an  "  astral 
telescope  "  ;  but  there  would  appear  to  be  no 
evidence  in  support  of  this  idea  beyond  the  ipse 
dixit  of  the  writer  and  even  he  is  very  vague  on 
the  point. 

The  third  form  of  clairvoyance,  namely,  the 
perception  of  non-physical  things,  is  readily 
explicable  on  the  hypothesis  which  we  are 
considering. 

Just  as  the  physical  body  has  sense  organs 
adapted  for  the  perception  of  physical  things, 


50     THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

so  the  four-dimensional  body  or  "  vehicle  "  will 
presumably  possess  analogous  organs  adapted 
for  the  perception  of  four-dimensional  things. 

In  ordinary  persons,  we  must  suppose  either 
that  these  organs  are  almost  completely 
undeveloped,  or  else  that  the  mechanism,  whereby 
the  impressions  received  are  conveyed  to  the 
consciousness  and  recorded  as  memories,  is 
defective  or  inhibited. 

In  the  clairvoyant  on  the  contrary  we  may 
suppose  that  they  are  well  developed  and  active 
and  that  he  is  able  consciously  to  perceive  by 
their  aid. 

In  advancing  this  explanation  of  the  third  form 
of  clairvoyance,  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  thought 
that  I  attribute  an  objective  origin  to  all  visions 
of  objects  which  have  no  obviously  physical  reality. 

Hallucination  is  often  a  vera  causa  and  indeed 
it  is  comparatively  seldom  that  we  can  eliminate 
it  with  certainty. 

But  I  do  not  think  it  can  legitimately  be  applied 
to  all  visions  of  this  class. 

The  point  is  of  some  interest  and  worthy  of 
a  moment's  thought  even  though  it  involves  a 
digression  from  the  main  topic. 

The  essence  of  hallucination  is  that  it  should 
have  a  purely  subjective  origin  and  be  unfounded 
on  objective  reality. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  51 

If  I  were  to  look  round  and  find  my  sofa 
occupied  by  three  green  cassowaries  playing 
nap  I  should,  I  think,  be  justified  in  assuming 
that  I  was  the  victim  of  an  hallucination  having 
no  foundation  in  objective  fact.  It  would, 
presumably,  have  arisen  from  a  simultaneous 
excitation  of  the  memory  centres  associated  with 
the  game  of  nap,  cassowaries,  the  number  three, 
and  the  sensation  of  greenness,  occasioned,  more 
or  less  fortituitously,  by  over-work  or  alcoholic 
excess. 

On  the  other  hand  if  I  were  to  see  the  figure 
of  an  old  man  with  a  long  white  beard,  one 
front  tooth  missing,  shaggy  eyebrows,  black 
velvet  smoking  jacket,  gold  watch  and  chain, 
and  so  forth  and  were  subsequently  to  find  that 
such  a  person,  answering  the  description  in  every 
detail,  and  previously  entirely  unknown  to  me, 
had  really  once  lived,  or  was  still  living,  then 
the  view  that  this  vision  was  the  result  of 
pure  hallucination,  would  be  untenable. 

The  probabilities  against  any  chance  stimulation 
of  memory  centres  giving  rise  to  precisely  that 
combination  of  characteristics,  are  immeasureably 
large. 

In  such  cases — and  they  are  by  no  means  un- 
known— we  must  attribute  some  degree  of 
objectivity  to  the  origin  of  the  vision. 


52       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

This  is  of  importance  in  view  of  the  tendency 
in  some  quarters  to  dismiss  all  such  visions  as 
purely  hallucinatory. 

We  shall  see  later  that  the  problems  connected 
with  Prevision  and  Postvision  are  also,  if  not 
completely  explained,  at  least  rendered  less 
utterly  incomprehensible  by  the  introduction  of 
the  higher  space  hypothesis. 

With  the  third  class  of  clairvoyant  phenomena 
is  closely  associated  that  group  of  facts  known 
as  "  Phantasms  of  the  Living,  of  the  Dying, 
and  of  the  Dead." 

Certain  aspects  of  the  dream  state,  again,  seem 
to  be  related  to  clairvoyance  at  a  distance  and 
are  conveniently  dealt  with  here. 

Let  us  follow  up  the  idea  of  a  four-dimensional 
vehicle  and  see  what  light,  if  any,  it  throws  on 
these  questions. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  four-dimensional 
vehicle  becomes  detached  from,  and  loses  touch 
with,  the  three-dimensional  physical  body  during 
unconsciousness  ;  or  rather  that  unconsciousness 
is  due  to  this  detachment. 

It  follows  that  the  "  Ego  "  embodied  in  this 
four-dimensional  vehicle  can  no  longer  receive 
impressions  through  the  three-dimensional  sense 
organs  and  that  it  is  wholly  dependent  for 
communication  with  the  outside  world  on  those 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  53 

which  belong  to  the  four  -  dimensional  vehicle. 
The  nature  of  the  impressions  received  will  depend 
on  the  degree  of  development  of  these  organs. 

If  they  are  completely  undeveloped  the  Ego 
will  be  utterly  oblivious  of  its  surroundings, 
whereas  if  they  are  well  developed  the  reverse 
will  be  the  case  and  we  may  suppose  the  Ego 
to  be  as  fully  cognizant  of  the  surrounding  world 
as  we  are  in  ordinary  waking  life.  It  is  interesting 
to  compare  with  this  the  statements  of  those  who 
claim  to  have  consciously  explored  the  "  Astral 
plane  "  or  four  space  world.  They  often  describe 
sleepers  as  being  present,  but  "  in  a  brown  study." 
Compare  also  the  statement  often  found  in 
communications  purporting  to  emanate  from  dis- 
carnate  personalities  to  the  effect  that,  "  We 
have  seen  so-and-so,  but  do  not  know  whether 
he  is  dead  or  not." 

Of  course,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  it  will 
be  possible,  even  under  these  latter  conditions, 
to  remember  in  waking  life  the  impressions 
received  during  unconsciousness.  On  the  contrary 
we  should  expect  this  to  be  the  exception  rather 
than  the  rule. 

In  their  passage  from  sense  organ  to  conscious- 
ness the  impressions  received  will,  ex  hypothesi, 
not  pass  through  the  physical  brain  and  the 
memory  centres  with  which  they  become 

I 


54       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

associated  may  be  located  in  a  position  which 
is  inaccessible  to  consciousness  when  embodied 
in  the  physical  vehicle. 

It  would  be  possible,  though  not  perhaps 
absolutely  necessary,  to  account  on  these  lines 
for  the  impression  which  most  people  have 
sometimes  had,  of  apparently  "  remembering  " 
a  place  which  they  have  certainly  never  visited 
previously  in  waking  life.  They  might,  however, 
on  this  theory,  have  done  so  in  sleep. 

It  would  also  account  for  those  dreams  in  which 
the  dreamer  perceives  an  incident  at  a  distance 
which  is  subsequently  verified. 

As  for  the  ordinary  chaotic  dream,  this,  it  seems 
to  me  may  be  accounted  for  in  either  of  two  main 
ways.  If  we  suppose  that  the  stimulation  of 
certain  cells  (memory  centres)  in  the  brain  causes 
an  uprush  into  consciousness  of  the  associated 
item  of  memory  or  "  souvenir,"  it  is  not  unreason- 
able to  suppose  that  such  stimulation  is  going  on 
in  the  body  all  the  time.  But  it  will  only  be  in 
the  state,  intermediate  between  profound  sleep 
and  waking,  that  these  aroused  souvenirs  will, 
on  the  one  hand  get  through  to  the  consciousness 
— which  in  deep  sleep  is  separated  from  the  body 
altogether — and,  on  the  other  will  escape  over- 
ruling by  the  Will  or  obliteration  by  the  influx 
of  normal  sensory  impressions. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  55 

This  would  account  for  the  fact  that  the 
majority  of  dreams  appear  to  be  of  very  short 
duration  and  to  take  place  in  the  very  act  of 
waking. 

The  other  cause  of  ordinary  dreams  is  probably 
in  its  general  nature  suggestive.  That  is  to  say 
the  Ego  cut  off  from  the  outside  world  by  the 
imperfections  of  its  four-dimensional  senses  is 
quiescent,  and  in  a  state  peculiarly  favourable 
for  the  telepathic  picking  up  of  stray  thoughts 
which  suggest  dreams. 

This  of  course  is  especially  the  case  when  the 
dream  is  deliberately  suggested  by  a  hypnotic 
specialist,  as  is  sometimes  done. 

The  subject  of  Phantasmal  apparitions  is  also 
both  complex  in  its  varieties  and  obscure  as  to 
its  causes. 

The  commonest  explanation,  namely,  the 
telepathic  influence  of  the  percipient  by  the 
agent,  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  applicable  to 


NOTE. — The  foregoing  remarks  on  the  subject  of  Dreams 
might  be  taken  to  imply  an  ignorance  of  the  views  inaugurated 
by  Freud,  and  extended  by  Jung,  Pfister,  and  others  of  the 
Psychoanalytic  school.  But  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any 
fundamental  contradiction  involved.  Even  if,  as  this  school 
tends  to  maintain,  there  is  no  dream  without  it's  hidden  and 
esoteric  meaning,  it  is  still  perfectly  legitimate  to  suppose  that 
the  for m  which  a  dream  takes  may  be  determined  by  causes  of 
the  type  which  I  have  been  discussing  here,  These  would 
provide  the  raw  material  so  to  speak  which  would  be  worked 
up  into  the  finished  dream  in  accordance  with  Freudian 
principles. 


56       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

every  case.  For  instance,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
how  a  man  shot  through  the  head  can  visualise 
himself  sufficiently  clearly  at  that  moment  to 
project  a  telepathic  image  of  himself,  including 
the  wound,  to  the  percipient.  And,  more 
generally,  it  is  probable  that  few  of  us  could 
visualise  our  own  appearance  with  sufficient 
accuracy  to  do  more  than  convey,  telepathically, 
a  vague  general  impression.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  we  are  to  suppose  that  the  details  are  filled 
up,  so  to  speak,  by  the  percipient,  how  are  we  to 
explain  accurate  perception  of  clothing  and  so 
forth  of  which  the  percipient  could  have  no 
knowledge  ? 

Finally,  the  whole  telepathic  theory  seems  weak 
in  this  respect.  If  I  in  the  act  of  death,  vehemently 
long  for,  or  think  of,  a  certain  person,  it  is  clear 
that  the  thought  in  my  mind  which  is  most 
likely  to  be  transmitted  to  the  brain  of  a 
percipient  will  not  be  the  thought  of  myself — 
still  less  of  my  own  appearance — but  rather  of 
the  other  person.  Why  should  this  suggest  me 
to  his  mind  ? 

In  experimental  telepathy  it  is  the  idea  on  which 
the     agent  concentrated     his     mind     that     is 
transmitted  to  the  percipient,   not   some   other 
idea,  and  I  see  no  reason  for  supposing  that  this 
is  not  always  the  case. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  57 

In  cases  where  the  apparition  has  been 
deliberately  produced  as  the  result  of  an  act  of 
will  on  the  part  of  the  agent,  the  apparition 
has  invariably  been  preceded  by  the  agent  con- 
centrating his  mind  on  the  person  to  whom  he 
wishes  to  appear,  not  on  himself. 

In  view  of  these  considerations  I  frankly  do  not 
see  how  the  telepathic  theory  can  be  unreservedly 
maintained. 

When  we  add  that  in  some  of  these  experi- 
mentally produced  cases  the  agent  has  himself 
seen  the  percipient  and  given  details,  subsequently 
verified,  of  the  circumstances  prevailing  at  the 
percipient's  end;  and  then  compare  this  with 
certain  of  the  varieties  of  clairvoyance  at  a 
distance,  we  must  surely  admit  that  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  agent  was  really  present,  though 
not  in  the  physical  body,  is  by  far  the  simplest 
explanation. 

For  cases  of  this  sort  the  reader  should  consult 
"  Phantasms  of  the  Living."  Some  good  selected 
instances  are  also  given  in  "  Death,  it's  Causes  and 
Phenomena,"  by  Messrs.  Carrington  and  Header. 

The  i4ea  that  conscious  existence  in  a  vehicle 
other  than  the  physical  body  is  possible  even 
during  life  is  borne  out  to  some  extent  by  the 
evidence  of  those  who  testify  to  having  seen 
their  own  body,  from  outside,  while  in  a  state 


58      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

of  unconsciousness.  An  interesting  one  is  given 
in  the  above  mentioned  work.  The  narrator 
describes  how  as  he  lay  in  bed  he  felt  a  cold 
sensation  creeping  up  his  legs  from  the  feet  and 
gradually  extending  throughout  his  body.  After 
this  had  gone  on  for  some  time  he  became 
momentarily  unconscious  and  on  coming  to  him- 
self again  "  seemed  to  be  walking  on  air  "  and  to 
be  entirely  free  from  his  body.  He  thought  of 
a  friend  who  was  some  hundreds  of  miles  distant 
and  in  a  few  seconds  he  found  himself  in  the 
presence  of  his  friend  in  circumstances  which 
he  describes.  His  friend  spoke  to  him  but 
he  could  not  stay.  After  much  difficulty  and 
perplexity  he  decided  that  he  ought  to  return 
to  his  body  and  as  soon  as  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  on  the  point  he  found  himself  looking  at 
his  apparently  dead  body  propped  up  in  bed 
as  he  had  been  when  this  experience  began. 
He  tried  to  control  it  and  in  due  course  was  able 
to  do  so  and  after  a  time  successfully  "  re- 
embodied  "  himself  apparently  none  the  worse 
for  his  experiences. 

The  credentials  of  this  case  are  good,  and  it  is 
important  to  note  that  the  friend  referred  to  wrote 
spontaneously  to  say  that  he  had  seen  the  narrator 
at  the  time  and  in  the  circumstances  which 
the  latter  describes. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  59 

For  this  reason  it  can  hardly  be  dismissed  as 
a  mere  hallucination  or  dream  and  it  is  relevant 
to  the  present  discussion  because  the  narrator 
saw  his  own  body  from  outside  and  was  apparently 
embodied  all  the  time  in  a  vehicle  of  some  sort. 

Another  somewhat  similar  and  equally  remark- 
able case  is  given  in  the  same  work.  This  I  shall 
deal  with  in  a  later  chapter.  In  view  of  the  fore- 
going considerations,  I  think  it  fair  to  say  that 
the  idea  of  a  non-physical  vehicle  of  consciousness 
capable,  under  the  proper  conditions,  of  temporary 
detachment  from  the  physical  body,  has  strong 
claims  to  be  adopted  as  a  working  hypothesis 
for  future  investigations  even  though  it  is  too 
early,  as  yet,  to  accept  it  as  a  proven  fact. 

It  certainly  seems  to  clear  up  certain  cases 
of  apparition  and  abnormal  acquisition  of  informa- 
tion as  to  distant  events,  in  a  way  which  other 
theories  do  not  do  without  being  strained  to  an 
extent  which  I  regard  as  unwarrantable. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  chief  reason  why 
such  an  hypothesis  has  not  been  adopted  before 
is  simply  the  difficulty  of  conceiving  the  nature 
of  such  a  vehicle.  But  this  is  overcome  if  we 
suppose  that  it  is  four-dimensional. 

The  theory  has,  of  course,  its  own  attendant 
difficulties  and  I  have  no  desire  disingenuously 
to  ignore  them. 


60       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

First  it  may  be  asked  :  How  does  the  percipient 
see  the  apparition  ?  For  four-dimensional  objects 
are,  ex  hypothesi  invisible  to  three-dimensional 
sight. 

Second :  Why  does  the  four  -  dimensional 
vehicle  present  the  exact  appearance  of  the 
three-dimensional  body — clothes  and  all  ? 

Third :  How  can  it  speak,  i.e.,  set  up 
vibrations  in  three-dimensional  matter,  as  it  is 
sometimes  recorded  as  doing  ? 

It  is  admittedly  far  from  easy  to  answer  these 
questions,  in  the  light  of  our  present  knowledge. 

As  regards  the  first,  I  should  feel  disposed 
to  say  that  such  apparitions  would  be  the  rule 
rather  than  the  exception,  were  it  not  for  the  fact 
that  only  those  whose  four-dimensional  organs 
are  fairly  well  developed  can  see  them.  Even 
so  it  may  be  that  they  are  only  called  into 
activity  as  a  result  of  some  special  "  rapport  " 
existing  between  the  agent  and  the  percipient. 

Professor  Joire,  in  his  book  "  Psychical  and 
Supernormal  Phenomena "  points  out  that  in 
nearly  every  case  the  percipient  is  in  a  state 
which  he  describes  as  "  superficial  somnambulism 
or  passive  mediumship  "  i.e.,  in  some  condition 
which  from  the  facts  of  Hypnosis  we  may  con- 
sider to  be  especially  favourable  to  the  receiving 
of  supernormal  impressions  of  any  kind. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  61 

This  observation  appears  highly  relevant  and 
important. 

The  second  difficulty  may  be  met,  though  not, 
I  must  admit,  in  a  particularly  convincing  manner, 
by  supposing  that  the  four-dimensional  vehicle 
fe  so  mobile  and  plastic,  in  respect  to  appropriate 
forces,  that  it  is  capable  of  being  moulded  by  the 
mere  power  of  will. 

It  would  thus  take  the  form  which  the  agent 
commonly  associated  with  himself,  or  which  he 
observed  his  physical  body  to  have  after  he  had 
left  it. 

It  would  be  possible  to  adduce  a  number  of 
considerations  in  support  of  this  view,  but  none 
of  them  are  in  any  way  conclusive  and  I  therefore 
leave  the  reader  to  form  his  own  opinion  on  the 
matter. 

As  regards  the  third  point,  there  are  two 
possible  answers  which  might  be  offered. 

On  the  one  hand  it  might  be  suggested  that  the' 
words  heard  are  really  objective ;  the  result, 
that  is  to  say  of  actual  vibrations  in  the 
atmosphere,  and  that  this  result  is  produced 
because,  in  all  such  cases,  the  percipient  is 
sufficiently  mediumistic  to  provide  the  necessary 
material  for  the  agent  to  "  work  up  "  some  form 
of  speaking  apparatus.  This  is  very  difficult 
to  conceive  as  possible,  and  yet  we  must  suppose 


62       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

some  such  process  to  be  involved  in  the  production 
of  the  "  Direct  Voice,"  a  phenomenon  which, 
though  baffling,  seems  well  authenticated. 

But  this  is  rendered  improbable  by  the  cases 
where  the  speaking  agent  has  been  a  living 
person,  who  records  no  such  process  as  having 
taken  place. 

Besides,  it  is  grossly  improbable  that  a  living 
person,  or  for  that  matter  a  newly  '  dead  '  person, 
would  know  how  to  perform  this  operation. 

The  most  probable  explanation  seems  to  be  a 
combination  of  telepathic  communication  between 
the  agent  and  the  percipient  accompanied  by  an 
auditory  hallucination  on  the  part  of  the  latter. 
This  would  be,  I  think,  quite  natural. 

These  difficulties  are  much  reduced,  though 
not  entirely  removed,  if  we  suppose  that  the 
agent  is  embodied,  not  in  the  four-dimensional 
vehicle,  but  in  what,  for  lack  of  a  better  word, 
is  called  the  "  Etheric  Double."  This  appears 
to  be  of  a  semi-material  nature  and  is  discussed 
at  length  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  "  The 
Connecting  Link." 

But  this  supposition  would  involve  special 
difficulties  of  its  own. 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  "  Etheric 
Double,"  if  it  exists  at  all,  is  incapable  of  moving 
far  from  the  physical  body  during  life  and  it 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  63 

does  not  appear  well  adapted  for  use  as  a  vehicle 
after  death. 

But  on  this  point  I  shall  have  more  to  say  later. 

Generally  speaking,  it  seems  probable  that  no 
one  of  these  explanations  will  be  found  to  cover 
all  the  cases  in  question.  But  each  is  likely  to 
prove  applicable  to  some  of  them,  although  much 
careful  investigation  and  analysis  will  be  necessary 
before  we  can  hope  to  be  able  to  allot  each  case 
to  its  true  cause  with  any  degree  of  assurance. 

None  the  less  I  am  convinced  that  the 
hypothesis  of  a  four-dimensional  vehicle,  detach- 
able on  occasion  from  the  physical  body,  puts 
us,  at  least,  on  the  right  track. 

I  will  now  turn  to  the  consideration  of  a  series 
of  phenomena  which,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  higher  space  hypothesis,  are  of  far  greater 
interest  and  significance  than  any  we  have  yet 
considered. 

I  refer  to  the  phenoma  of  "  apport  "  and  of 
"  apparent  penetration  of  matter  by  matter." 

If  we  have  a  closed  room,  of  which  all  the 
windows,  doors,  and  other  apertures  have  been 
carefully  shut  and  sealed,  it  is  clearly  impossible 
to  introduce  any  solid  object  into  that  room, 
by  normal  means,  without  breaking  the  seals  and 
opening  one  of  the  apertures.  The  same  would 
apply  to  a  closed,  locked  and  sealed  box. 


64       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

But  the  literature  of  Psychical  research  abounds 
with  instances  where  objects  are  alleged  to  have 
been  introduced  into  such  closed  and  sealed  rooms 
and  boxes — or  removed  from  them,  which  comes 
to  the  same  thing — without  breaking  the  seals. 
This  is  the  phenomenon  of  "  apport  "  properly 
so  called  and  it  forms  a  special  case  of  the  more 
general  class  of  "  apparent  penetration  of  matter 
by  matter." 

Other  cases  of  the  latter  are  the  tying  of  knots 
in  an  endless  cord  of  such  a  nature  that  they  can 
only  be  untied  by  breaking  the  cord  or  separating 
its  previously  sealed  ends ;  or  the  passing,  on  to 
the  wrist  or  ankle  of  some  person  or  other,  of  a  ring 
so  small  that  it  could  not  possibly  be  pushed  on 
over  the  hand  or  foot. 

A  very  good  test  would  be  the  interlinking  of 
two  rings  turned  from  different  sorts  of  wood — 
as  was  attempted  without  success  in  the  Slade- 
Zollner  investigation  ;  or  the  passing  of  a  piece 
of  weldless  drawn  steel  tube  on  to  the  middle 
portion  of  an  ordinary  wooden  dumb-bell. 

With  regard  to  these  phenomena  I  propose, 
first,  to  show  in  what  their  very  great  importance 
lies  and  then  to  discuss  the  nature  of  the  evidence 
we  have  for  their  actual  occurrence. 

If  the  reader  will  refer  back  to  the  first  chapter, 
he  will  at  once  perceive  why  I  laid  what  must 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  65 

have  appeared  to  be  unnecessary  stress  on  the 
fact  that  "  rooms  "  and  "  boxes  "  which  would 
appear  to  be  absolutely  closed  to  a  two  space 
being  would  be  perfectly  open  to  us  who  live  in 
a  three  space  world.  Just  as  every  point  in  the 
interior  of  a  two-space  figure  is  absolutely  open 
in  the  direction  of  the  third  dimension,  so  we 
must  suppose  from  analogy  that  the  interior  of 
a  closed  three  space  figure — a  box  or  room — 
is  perfectly  accessible  from  the  direction  of  the 
fourth  dimension. 

Consequently  on  the  hypothesis  that  four-space 
actually  exists  as  a  reality,  and  is  peopled  by 
intelligent  beings,  possessed  of  the  necessary 
"  apparatus  " — whatever  that  may  be — the 
explanation  of  the  phenomenon  of  apport  is  quite 
simple. 

We  have  only  to  suppose  that  the  object  in 
question  is  moved  out  of  the  containing  space, 
in  the  direction  of  the  fourth  dimension,  and  then 
put  down  again  into  three  space  outside  the  box 
or  room  in  which  it  originally  was.  Or  conversely, 
when  it  is  a  question  of  introducing  an  object 
into  a  closed  space. 

During  transit,  the  object  would,  of  course, 
be  located  entirely  outside  of  three-space. 

I  will  not  go  at  length  into  the  question  of  how 
the  tying  of  knots  in  an  endless  cord  could  be 


66      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

performed  in  four  space.  Any  reader  who  cares 
to  tie  together  the  two  ends  of  a  piece  of  string 
for  himself,  will  soon  realise  that  it  is  not  possible 
then  to  tie  a  simple  knot  in  the  string  without 
untying  the  ends.  If  such  an  operation  were  to 
be  performed,  under  test  conditions,  it  would 
clearly  be  a  case  of  apparent  penetration  of  matter 
by  matter. 

Consider  this  case  which  is  analogous  to  that 
of  the  steel  tube  and  the  dumb-bell  suggested  above : 
Let  A  and  B  be  two-space  objects.      Fig  8. 
A  two-space  being  could  not 
conceive  of  their  being  brought 
into  the  second  position  shown 
in  the  figure. 

But  we,  having  the  advan- 
tage of  a  third  dimension  of 
space  could  very  easily  pick 
up  the  object  A  and  put  it  down  in  the  second 
position  with  regard  to  B.  Similarly  a  four 
space  being  of  sufficient  knowledge  and  manipula- 
tive ability  could,  theoretically,  slip  on  to  the 
middle  part  of  the  dumb-bell  a  piece  of  steel  tube 
of  a  diameter  too  small  to  be  passed  over  the 
two  large  ends.  There  are,  of  course,  a  large 
number  of  variations  which  could  be  introduced 
into  this  class  of  experiment  but  the  foregoing 
will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  their  salient  features. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  67 

For  the  purpose  of  detailed  consideration  I 
shall  deal  only  with  the  case  of  the  removal  of 
a  solid  object  from  the  interior  of  a  closed  and 
sealed  box,  which  is  typical  of  the  whole  of  this 
class  of  phenomena. 

Let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  at  the  moment 
I  am  not  expressing  any  opinion  as  to  whether 
this  or  any  allied  phenomenon  has  actually 
occurred.  I  am  concerned  merely  with  the 
inferences  we  should  be  compelled  to  draw  if 
such  an  occurrence  were  substantiated 
scientifically  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt. 

We  have  seen  that  given  four  -  dimensional 
space  as  a  reality  and  an  intelligent  four- 
dimensional  being  equipped  with  the  necessary 
knowledge,  powers,  facilities  and  so  forth,  which 
I  have  included  under  the  general  term  of 
"  apparatus "  the  thing  could  be  done  in  a 
comparatively  comprehensible  manner,  although 
the  actual  manipulative  details  would  still  require 
clearing  up. 

The  question  now  arises :  Is  this  the  only 
conceivable  modus  operandi  that  could  bring 
about  the  same  result  ?  It  is  not.  There  is 
one  other,  and  so  far  as  I  know  only  one  other, 
theory  which  has  been  advanced  to  account  for 
this  type  of  phenomenon. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  solid  object  in 


68       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

question  is  dissociated,  by  some  obscure  means, 
into  ultra-atomic  particles,  is  passed  in  this 
condition  through  the  walls  of  the  box  and 
finally  "  integrated "  again  into  its  original 
form  outside  the  box. 

Now,  apart  from  the  obvious  difficulty  of 
imagining  how  these  ultra-atomic  particles  are 
integrated  into  the  precise  form  originally 
possessed  by  the  object,  this  theory  has  at  first 
sight  a  certain  plausibility. 

We  know  that  all  matter  is  probably  susceptible 
of  dissociation  in  a  fashion  that  was  originally 
supposed  to  be  the  exclusive  property  of  Radium 
and  other  Radio-active  substances.* 

If,  then,  we  postulate  the  existence  of  intelligent 
beings  in  a  non-physical  state  of  existence,  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  us  from  supposing  that 
certain  of  them  have  acquired  a  sufficient  know- 
ledge of  physical  laws  to  enable  them  to  effect 
a  process  of  this  nature  artificially. 

I  do  not  say  that  this  idea  commends  itself  to 
me  ;  but  it  is  the  explanation  most  commonly 
offered  for  the  phenomena  in  question,  and  this 
fact  taken  in  conjunction  with  its  prima  facie 
plausibility,  entitles  it  to  careful  consideration 
before  we  dismiss  it  as  untenable. 


*  Compare  the  recent  work  of  Rutherford,  Soddy,  Le  Bon 
and  others, 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  69 

The  real  objection  to  it  is  a  mere  matter  of 
Physics.  The  work  of  the  scientists  mentioned 
above  goes  to  show  that  what  we  call  matter  is 
no  more  than  a  condensation  of  energy  in  the 
ether ;  and  that  the  dissociation  of  matter  is 
invariably  accompanied  by  an  enormous  liberation 
of  energy. 

For  calculations  on  this  point  the  reader  may 
refer  to  M.  Le  Bon's  book  "  The  Evolution  of 
Matter." 

Without  going  into  such  calculations  it  may  be 
said  that  the  amount  of  energy  that  would  be 
liberated  in  the  dissociation  of  a  gramme  of 
matter,  would  be  amply  sufficient,  if  it  were 
produced  in  the  form  of  heat,  to  fuse,  and  for  that 
matter  vaporise,  the  experimenters,  the  room, 
the  whole  house,  and  probably  about  half  the 
town  as  well ! 

What  becomes  of  this  enormous  quantity  of 

energy  which  must  be  liberated  during  the  process 

if  the  dissociation  theory  of  the  phenomena  is 

correct  ?     Why  is   its   liberation   not   apparent, 

and  painfully  apparent,  to  the  experimenters  ? 

How  is  it  prevented  from  being  dissipated  and  how 

is  it  collected  again  and  recondensed  into  matter  ? 

This  point  seems  to  me  to  be  insuperable. 

If  the  object  within  the  box  is  dissociated,  then 

energy  must  inevitably  be  liberated.     If  energy 

F 


70       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

is  liberated,  then  it  cannot  conceivably  escape 
detection  in  such  quantities. 

I  hope  I  have  made  my  point  clear.  I  am  quite 
sure  that  any  scientist  accustomed  to  think 
in  terms  of  energy  will  at  once  see  the  difficulty 
to  which  I  allude. 

I  can  see  only  one  way  out  and  that  is  to 
suppose  that  in  some  mysterious  manner  the 
liberated  energy  is  stored  in  a  "  reservoir,"  so 
to  speak,  which  is  not  situated  in  our  space  at  all, 
and  this  at  once  lets  us  in  for  the  original  idea 
of  a  fourth  dimension  and  higher  space  and  all 
the  rest  of  it. 

Hence  I  maintain,  and  I  think  I  have  reason  to 
maintain,  that  if  these  phenomena  do  actually 
occur  at  all,  then  we  are  compelled  to  admit 
that  four-dimensional  space  does  actually  exist ; 
and  this  no  matter  whether  we  accept  as  the 
proximate  cause  of  the  phenomena  a  simple  four- 
dimensional  movement  or  the  far  more  elaborate 
and  less  satisfactory  notion  of  dissociation  and 
re-integration. 

The  reader  will  now  understand  why  it  is  that 
I  attach  such  great  importance  to  these 
phenonomena  of  apport  and  of  the  "  apparent 
penetration  of  matter  by  matter." 

If  one  of  these  phenomena  could  be  established 
by  absolutely  incontrovertible  experimental 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  71 

evidence,  with  the  same  degree  of  certainty, 
for  instance,  as  the  phenomenon  of  levitation  with- 
out contact  has  been  established  by  the  recent 
researches  of  Crawford,  I  should  regard  the  four- 
dimensional  hypothesis  as  virtually  proven. 

I  should  be  much  interested  to  hear  whether 
any  interested  reader  can  get  out  of  the  difficulty, 
assuming  the  authenticity  of  the  phenomenon 
for  the  sake  of  argument,  but  I  do  not  think 
that  it  will  prove  possible. 

I  will  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the 
nature  of  the  evidence  that  exists  for  the  actual 
occurrence  of  this  sort  of  phenomenon. 

I  will  preface  my  remarks  by  two  quotations 
from  writers  who  appear  to  hold  somewhat 
different  views  on  the  subject. 

In  "  The  Physical  Phenomena  of  Spiritualism  " 
Mr.  Hereward  Carrington  says  : 

"  Without  now  stopping  to  consider  any 
a  priori  speculations  as  to  the  scientific 
possibility  or  impossibility  of  such  a  thing  ; 
the  mere  historic  evidence  in  the  case  would 
certainly  seem  to  point  to  the  conclusion  that 
fraud  and  nothing  but  fraud  has  been  operative 
throughout  and  is  quite  sufficient  to  account 
for  all  the  phenomena  observed  (save  in  the 
case  of  W.  S.  Moses,  perhaps,  that  stumbling 


72       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

block  to  the  rationalistic  psychical  researcher), 

in  the  presence  of  professional  mediums.  .  .  . 

In  fact  all  these  cases  sift  themselves  down  to 

the    one    primary    consideration :     could    the 

medium,    in    spite    of    the    searching,    have 

introduced    into    the    seance    room,    unseen 

by  his  sitters,  the  objects  materialised." 

It   should   be   noted   that   the   above   refers   to 

cases  where  the  seance  room  is  found,  after  the 

sitting,  to  contain  objects  which  were  certainly 

not   there   before.     In  this  connection  the  last 

sentence  of  the  passage  quoted  above  is  eminently 

justifiable  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  I  prefer 

to  deal  with  varieties  of  the  phenomenon  which 

are  more  amenable  to  experimental  control  on 

the  part  of  the  experimenter  ;  as  for  instance  the 

removal  of  a  solid  object  from  the  sealed  box 

which  we  are  considering. 

Compare  with  this  first  quotation  the  following 
taken  from  Mr.  Gambier  Bolton's  book  "  Psychic 
Force." 

"  During  my  sixteen  years  of  experimental 
investigation  into  the  question  of  the  existence 
of  this  Psychic  Force,  the  apparent  penetration 
of  matter  by  matter  has  been  such  a  common 
occurrence  at  our  experimental  meetings,  that 
unless  this  happens  to  take  place  in  connection 
with  some  unusually  large  and  ponderous  object 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  73 

that  is  suddenly  brought  into  our  midst,   or 

removed  from  the  place  where  we  are  holding 

our  meetings,  I  take  but  very  little  note  of  it. 

I  could  fill  a  large  volume  with  instances  where 

this  has  taken  place  in  my  own  presence.  .  .  . 

I  am  not  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  explain 

such     things,     but     am     merely     recording 

phenomena   which    I    myself   have   witnessed 

and  which  have  been  witnessed  hundreds,  nay 

thousands,  of  times  by  well-known  investigators 

like  Sir  William  Crookes  and  Dr.  Alfred  Russel 

Wallace  under  the  strictest  test  conditions." 

These   two   views   are,   to   say   the   least   of  it, 

somewhat   divergent.     We   must,   therefore,   see 

what  is  to  be  gathered  from  such  original  records 

as  are  avilable. 

The  locus  classicus  of  this  sort  of  phenomenon 
is  the  Slade-Zollner  investigation  Q£  1877-9. 

This  investigation  has  received  so  much 
attention  that  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  giving 
it  somewhat  careful  consideration  here. 

Johann  Carl  Friedrich  Zollner  was  born  in 
1834.  He  was  Professor  of  Physics  and 
Astronomy  at  the  University  of  Leipsic,  a 
member  of  many  learned  and  scientific  societies 
and  the  author  of  a  number  of  scientific  treatises. 
He  was  assisted,  from  time  to  time,  in  his 
investigations  by  Professors  Weber,  Fechner, 


74       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

and  Scheibner  all  of  whom  were  men  of  consider- 
able eminence  in  one  branch  or  another  of  mathe- 
matical or  physical  science. 

The  medium  in  whose  presence  the  phenomena 
were  produced  was  the  well-known  "  Dr."  Slade. 
This  medium  has  been  demonstrated  to  have 
resorted  to  fraud  with  a  certainty  that  admits 
of  no  dispute. 

But,  as  Mr.  Hereward  Carrington  points  out, 
we  ought  not  to  allow  this  fact  to  influence  us 
in  the  consideration  of  any  particular  case.  In 
the  first  place  it  is  fairly  certain  that  mediums 
who  are  capable  of  producing  genuine  phenomena 
under  suitable  conditions  are  also  liable  to  resort 
to  trickery  when  the  genuine  thing  does  not  come 
off.  (Cp.  the  case  of  Eusapia  Palladino.)  In 
the  second,  too  great  a  reliance  on  antecedents 
is  apt  to  produce  an  unreliable  a  priori  prejudice. 
Every  case  should  be  considered  on  its  merits 
alone  and  the  medium's  past  history  should 
only  be  allowed  to  influence  our  judgment  if  it 
can  be  shown  that  fraud  has  not  been  rigorously 
excluded  and  that  the  only  argument  against  it 
is  the  argument  from  moral  integrity. 

In  this  case  the  argument  from  integrity  is 
obviously  inadmissable  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  precautions  taken  to  guard  against  fraud  were 
so  very  inadequate  that  we  cannot  accept  the 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  75 

experiments   in   question   as   worth  anything  at 
all  from  the  scientific  point  of  view. 

Zollner's  account  of  his  experiments  is  to  be 
found  in  his  book  "  Transcendental  Physics," 
translated  into  English  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Massey 
in  whom  the  author  found  an  able  and  enthusiastic 
champion  against  his  many  critics. 

Among  the  more  important  of  his  experiments 
were  : 

Production  of  knots  in  an  endless  string. 

Slate  writing  under  "  test  "   conditions. 

Disappearance  and  reappearance  of  solid 
objects. 

Coins  transferred  from  closed  and  fastened  boxes 

Other  instances  of  the  apparent  penetration  of 
matter  by  matter. 

The  careful  study  of  this  book  is  of  the  greatest 
value  as  an  exercise  in  the  criticism  of  evidence 
and  as  a  guide  for  anyone  who  proposes  to  study 
such  matters  at  first  hand. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  can  illustrate  my  meaning 
better  than  by  a  description  of  my  own  impressions 
in  connection  with  the  book. 

When  I  first  read  it  I  was  much  impressed  by 
the  scientific  eminence  of  those  who  bore  witness 
to  the  authenticity  of  the  events  described. 

I  reflected  that  here  we  had  a  Physicist  of  no 
mean  order,  assisted  by  other  scientists  of 


76       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

European  reputation,  men  trained,  presumably, 
in  the  art  of  exact  observation  and  not  likely 
to  be  deceived  by  the  manipulations  of  a  conjuror. 
Surely  we  must  believe  their  testimony  if  we 
are  to  assign  any  value  to  human  evidence  at 
all! 

Then,  as  I  thought  over  the  matter  more  and 
became  more  convinced  of  the  importance  of  the 
conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  these  experiments, 
if  genuine,  I  felt  that  these  considerations, 
although  possessed  of  their  own  importance, 
were  yet  not  sufficient  to  warrant  acceptance 
of  the  evidence  without  careful  examination  of 
the  intrinsic  qualities  of  the  latter. 

On  further  study  of  the  book  I  was  struck 
by  the  fact  that  not  one  of  the  special  experiments, 
carefully  designed  by  Zollner  to  establish  the 
genuineness  of  the  phenomena  and  the  validity 
of  the  four-dimensional  explanation  beyond  all 
doubt,  had  succeeded.  This  was  suspicious, 
although  not,  of  course,  conclusive.  Specially 
devised  test  experiments  may  very  likely  fail 
simply  because  they  may  involve  the  upsetting 
of  some  essential  condition  which  is  not  fully 
understood  by  the  experimenter.  But  when  such 
experiments  fail,  while  others  of,  apparently, 
identical  general  nature  succeed,  it  gives  one 
cause  for  thought. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  77 

Finally,  when  I  came  to  examine  the  records 
of  individual  experiments  in  the  light  of  the 
criticisms  of  Mr.  Carrington,  of  Dr.  Hyslop  and 
others,  I  realised  that  the  nature  of  the  evidence 
was  emphatically  not  good  enough  to  justify  our 
accepting  as  demonstrated  the  facts  which  Zollner 
claimed  to  have  established. 

I  shall  not  waste  my  own  time  and  that  of  the 
reader  by  giving  numerous  instances  of  the  sort 
of  thing  I  mean. 

I  will  confine  myself  to  the  case  that  we  are 
more  especially  considering  as  being  typical  of 
the  whole  of  this  class  of  phenomena,  i.e.,  the 
case  of  the  removal  of  a  coin  from  a  closed  and 
fastened  box. 

Zollner  describes  how  in  December  1877  he  put 
some  coins  in  a  small  cardboard  box  and  had 
closed  it  by  glueing  a  strip  of  paper  round  the  sides. 
He  had  done  this  in  the  expressed  hope  that 
Slade  might  be  able  to  remove  them  and  thus 
give  a  proof  of  the  reality  of  the  fourth  dimension 
which  was  Zollner's  pet  hobby.  In  May  1878 
Slade  came  again  to  Leipsic  and  performed  the 
feat,  at  any  rate  to  the  satisfaction  of  Zollner. 

The  box  was  put  on  a  table  together  with  some 
slates  and  other  objects  and  Slade  and  Zollner 
and  his  colleagues  sat  round.  Zollner  satisfied 
himself  by  shaking  the  box  that  the  coin  was  still 


78       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

inside  and  in  answer  to  Slade's  enquiries  explained 
the  purpose  of  the  experiment  and  its  importance 
if  successful.  There  was  a  little  preliminary  slate 
writing  and  then  Slade  began  staring  into  a  corner 
of  the  room  and  saying  "  I  see  funf  and  eighteen 
hundred  seventy  six."  Then  a  hard  object 
was  heard  to  fall  on  the  slate  which  Slade  had 
held  under  the  table  all  the  time  and  on  with- 
drawing the  slate  it  was  found  to  be  a  five  mark 
piece  of  date  1876.  Zollner  then  snatched  up 
the  cardboard  box  and  shook  it  only  to  find  that 
it  was  empty. 

This  is  a  very  highly  condensed  description  of 
the  proceedings  but  I  do  not  think  I  have  been 
guilty  either  of  "  suggestio  falsi "  or  of 
"  suppressio  veri  ". 

Interested  readers  can  refer  to  the  original. 

Now,  if  Zollner  had  been  writing  no  more  than 
a  casual  account  of  a  well-known  experiment, 
inserted  for  the  sake  of  completeness  or  for 
similar  reasons,  it  would  be  well  enough. 

But  to  offer  his  account,  in  the  face  of  a  very 
natural  scientific  incredulity,  as  a  conclusive 
demonstration  of  a  highly  controversial  point, 
was  an  insult  to  one's  intelligence. 

There  are  numerous  criticisms  that  might  be 
made,  but  I  shall  confine  myself  to  pointing  out 
only  the  more  conspicuous  of  them. 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  79 

In  this  experiment  there  are  two  main  methods 
by  which  the  result  might  have  been  obtained 
by  fraudulent  means. 

There  seems  no  doubt  that  the  coin  was  really 
in  the  box  at  the  beginning  of  the  sitting.  We 
may  equally  accept  the  statement  that  the  box 
shaken  at  the  end  of  the  experiment  did  not 
contain  a  coin. 

On  the  hypothesis  of  fraud,  therefore,  one  of 
two  things  must  have  happened. 

Either  Slade  must  have  contrived,  during  the 
sitting,  to  possess  himself  of  the  box,  open  it, 
abstract  the  coin,  close  the  box  again,  and 
return  it  to  the  table ;  or  else  he  must  have 
substituted  for  the  box,  which  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sitting  contained  the  coin,  another 
(empty)  box,  previously  prepared  to  resemble 
the  original. 

I  do  not  think  the  former  method  to  be  at 
all  likely. 

One  cannot  unstick  a  length  of  glued  paper 
and  stick  it  up  again  in  a  few  seconds  unobserved. 

On  the  other  hand  everything  lends  itself  to 
the  supposition  that  the  second  method  was 
actually  adopted. 

In  the  first  place  we  know  that  the  box  was 
prepared  some  six  months  previous  to  the 
experiment. 


80       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

It  is  true  that  Zollner  is  a  trifle  hazy  as  to  dates, 
saying  at  the  outset  that  Slade's  first  visit  to 
Leipsic  was  in  December  1877,  and,  later,  that 
the  first  and  second  visits  were  in  November  and 
December  1877. 

But  this  is  comparatively  immaterial,  the 
point  being  that  Slade  had  presumably  had  ample 
time  and  opportunity  for  finding  out  all  about 
these  boxes  and  for  preparing  substitutes.  I 
say  "  presumably "  because  in  the  absence  of 
definite  evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  have  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  these  boxes  were  kept 
in  an  inaccessible  place  or  that  Zollner  had  never 
mentioned  his  intentions  with  regard  to  them  to 
Slade  himself  or  to  anyone  else.  I  consider  then 
that  so  far  as  the  records  go,  we  are  perfectly 
entitled  to  suppose  that  Slade  was  able  to  prepare, 
and,  in  fact,  actually  did  prepare,  an  empty 
counterfeit  box,  externally  similar  to  that 
prepared  by  Zollner.  The  second,  and  almost 
incredible,  point  to  be  noticed  is  that  apparently 
no  steps  of  any  sort  were  taken  by  Zollner  to 
identify  either  the  box  or  the  coin  after  the 
sitting  with  those  originally  prepared  by  him. 

In  fact,  he  definitely  says  that  he  had  com- 
pletely forgotten,  indeed  had  never  so  much  as 
observed,  the  value  or  dates  of  the  coins 
used  ! 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  81 

With  such  gross  carelessness  in  the  control, 
the  trick  becomes  exceptionally  easy  to  perform. 

Slade  goes  to  the  seance  armed,  among  other 
things,  with  an  empty,  counterfeit  box  resembling 
Zollner's,  also  with  a  five-mark  piece  of  the 
right  date — I  think  that  even  Zollner  would  have 
been  suspicious  if  the  coin  that  fell  on  the  slate 
had  been  dated  1878  !.  Zollner  shakes  his  box— 
the  genuine  one — and  satisfies  himself  that  the 
coin  is  really  there.  Then  follows  a  little  pre- 
liminary play  with  the  slate  and  so  on,  the 
simplest  matter  in  the  world  to  an  artist  like 
Slade.  At  the  critical  moment  Slade  diverts 
the  attention  of  the  experimenters  from  the  table 
by  the  world-old  conjuror's  dodge  of  gazing 
fixedly  in  some  other  direction  and  murmuring 
"  I  see — see — funf,"  etc.  While  Zollner  and  his 
colleagues  are  glancing  in  the  same  direction  to  see 
what  he  is  looking  at,  Slade  swiftly  substitutes 
his  counterfeit  box  for  the  original,  and  the 
trick  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  done.  All 
he  has  now  to  do  is  to  drop  the  coin  which  he 
brought  with  him  on  to  the  slate  at  any 
convenient  moment  and  draw  out  the  latter  in 
triumph  ! 

Given  the  astounding  guilelessness  of  Zollner 
and  the  complete  lack  of  control  revealed  by 
the  records,  the  thing  was  absurdly  simple. 


82       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

And  yet  Zollner  refers  to  it  as  having  been 
performed  under  "  such  stringent  conditions  !  " 

The  foregoing  example  will,  I  hope,  make  quite 
clear  how  much  importance  I  attach  to  the  Slade- 
Zollner  investigations. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  Slade  never 
produced  genuine  phenomena,  either  with  Zollner 
or  with  anyone  else. 

On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  probable  that  he 
possessed  a  certain  amount  of  genuine  medium- 
istic  power  which,  however,  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  supplement  by  cheating  when  occasion 
offered. 

Some,  or  for  that  matter  all,  of  the  Slade- 
Zollner  experiments  may  happen  to  have  been 
genuine.  But  in  view  of  the  known  untrust- 
worthiness  of  Slade  and  the  complete  lack  of  proper 
scientific  control  revealed  by  a  study  of  the 
published  records  we  must  write  them  off  as  quite 
valueless  from  a  scientific  point  of  view. 

I  have  dealt  with  this  particular  case  at  some 
length  partly  on  account  of  the  vehemence  of 
the  controversies  which  have  raged  round  it 
and  partly  because  the  discrediting  of  Zollner's 
observations  has  done  much  to  bring  the  whole 
idea  of  the  fourth  dimension  into  disfavour  and 
even  into  ridicule.  This,  I  feel,  is  unfair  and  I 
wish  to  make  it  clear  that  my  present  advocacy 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  83 

of  the  claims  of  the  higher  space  hypothesis  is  in 
no  way  based  on  the  Zollner  experiments. 

There  are,  of  course,  in  the  literature  of  the 
subject  a  large  number  of  other  cases  which  are 
not  so  obviously  unreliable — some,  in  fact,  which 
are  distinctly  good. 

Dr.  S.  A.  Peters  gives  an  account  of  an  early 
experiment  by  Dr.  Hare — one  of  the  pioneer 
investigators — in  which  two  small  balls  of 
platinum  were  transferred  to  the  inside  of  two 
hermetically  sealed  glass  tubes.  It  is  not  a  bad 
case  but  is  a  very  old  one  and  the  record  gives 
no  particulars  of  any  special  precautions  taken 
to  exclude  fraud. 

The  Milan  Committee  appointed  to  investigate 
the  mediumship  of  Eusapia  Palladino  failed  to 
obtain  any  confirmation  of  Zollner 's  experiments, 
but  they  seem  to  have  been  puzzled  by  an 
unaccountable  incident  where  the  medium 
managed  to  get  into,  or  partially  into,  a  coat 
while  her  hands  were  being  held  by  the  Committee. 
I  do  not  myself  regard  this  case  as  convincing. 

The  American  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
recorded  some  observations  with  a  Mrs.  Roberts 
of  New  York,  who  managed  to  liberate  herself 
from  a  carefully  made  and  sealed  cage  which  was 
closed  and  sealed  by  members  of  the  investigating 
committee.  I  do  not  know  anything  at  first- 


84       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

hand  about  the  credentials  of  this  case.  Dr. 
Paul  Joire  quotes  it  and  I  suppose,  therefore, 
that  he  considers  it  re  iable. 

The  same  author  also  quotes  at  length  a  case 
observed  by  Dr.  Pogorelsky  and  other  Russian 
investigators  with  the  medium  Sambor.  In  this 
case  a  cane  chair  was  passed  on  to  the  arms  of 
two  of  the  experimenters  whose  hands  were 
clasped  and  bound  together.  That  is  to  say, 
whereas  to  start  with  the  chair  was  by  itself 
and  independent  of  them  it  was,  at  the  end  of 
the  proceedings,  found  suspended  from  their 
arms  by  the  opening  at  the  back.  As  the  opening 
was  too  small  for  either  of  them  to  have  wriggled 
through  even  if  they  had  wished  to  do  so  this 
was  a  clear  case  of  apparent  penetration  of 
matter  by  matter. 

The  evidence  in  this  case  seems  to  be  well 
above  the  average  although  it  cannot  be  said 
to  amount  to  mathematical  certainty. 

Mr.  Gambier  Bolton  gives  a  distinctly  good  case 
in  his  book  "  Psychic.  Force,"  p.  65.  Under 
exceptionally  favourable  conditions  he  observed 
the  removal  of  a  light  table  from  a  sort  of  tent 
which  he  had  constructed  and  very  carefully 
closed  and  secured.  This  is  one  of  the  best  cases 
I  know ;  it  took  place  in  the  observer's  own 
room,  it  was  done  impromptu,  it  was  well  observed 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  85 

in  light,  and  all  the  objects  concerned  were  the 
ebserver's  property  and  not  of  a  kind  to  admit 
of  prestidigitation.  It  is  difficult  to  see  any 
way  out  of  it  and  yet  I  must  confess  that  I  am 
not  wholly  satisfied.  I  feel  that  in  every  case 
there  is  just  something  more  needed  to  carry 
complete  conviction  and  I  should  very  much  like 
to  see  a  good  case  myself. 

Other  instances  are  common.  The  records 
of  the  mediumship  of  Stainton  Moses,  for  instance, 
abound  with  them.  But  as  there  were  never 
any  test  conditions  imposed,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
it  follows  that  the  question  of  the  genuineness 
of  the  phenomena  is  simply  a  matter  of  the 
integrity  of  the  medium.  On  this  point  every 
reader  must  be  left  to  form  his  own  opinion. 
Many  authorities  have  professed  the  greatest 
confidence  in  Moses.  Mr.  Podmore,  on  the 
other  hand,  presents  the  suspicious  features  of 
the  case  in  a  very  able  criticism  in  his  "  Modern 
Spiritualism."  Anyway  on  a  point  of  such 
importance  as  this  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  right 
to  allow  the  matter  to  be  settled  by  any  purely 
moral  considerations  of  the  type  adduced  in  the 
case  of  Moses. 

In  general,  then,  I  should  say  that  the  phenomena 
of  the  apparent  penetration  of  matter  by  matter 
are  not  established  with  the  same  degree  of 

G 


86       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

certainty  which  characterises  certain  other 
phenomena,  and  which  we  ought  to  demand  before 
accepting  them  as  scientifically  proven  or  utilising 
them  without  reserve  as  a  basis  for  the  construc- 
tion of  theories. 

In  the  interests  of  the  science  it  is  in  the 
highest  degree  important  that  experiments  of 
this  nature  should  be  carried  out  under  real  test 
conditions. 

Should  any  of  my  readers  be  so  fortunate  as  to 
be  acquainted  with  any  medium  capable  of 
producing  these  very  rare  phenomena  with 
regularity,  I  should  esteem  it  a  great  favour 
if  they  would  kindly  inform  me.  I  would  very 
much  like  to  arrange  some  definite  experiments 
to  settle  the  matter — if  possible  once  and  for  all. 

There  is  one  other  direction  from  which,  in 
my  opinion,  we  receive  a  strong  hint  that  four- 
dimensional  space  is  intimately  connected  with 
Psychic  phenomena. 

I  refer  to  Crawford's  work  on  table  levitation. 
This  investigation  is  undoubtedly  destined  to 
take  rank  as  a  "  classical  "  research  of  the  first 
magnitude  and  no  one  who  professes  to  take  an 
intelligent  interest  in  the  scientific  and  experi- 
mental aspects  of  Psychic  investigations  can 
afford  to  be  without  his  book.* 

*  "The  Reality  of  Psychical  Phenomena  "  (Watkins). 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  87 

In  a  later  chapter  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer 
to  certain  aspects  of  his  results  and  to  show 
how  they  fit  in  with  those  of  other  investigators 
working  on  very  different  lines. 

In  the  present  context  I  propose  only  to  call 
attention  to  the  rigidity  of  his  "  cantilever," 
a  phrase  which  perhaps  needs  some  explanation. 

As  a  result  of  the  most  careful  and  painstaking 
researches  extending  over  a  period  of  nearly 
three  years  and  performed  under  conditions  which 
were  singularly  favourable  for  observation,  he 
has  been  enabled  to  arrive  at  certain  definite 
conclusions  as  to  the  mechanical  causes  of 
telekinesis  in  general  and  table  levitation  without 
contact  in  particular. 

He  finds  that  when  the  table  is  lifted  clear  of 
the  floor  it  is  supported  by  a  definite  structure 
or  cantilever.  This  structure  is  invisible  and 
impalpable,  or  nearly  so,  and  appears  to  be 
organised  out  of  some  form  of  matter  actually 
taken  from  the  body  of  the  medium. 

Dr.  Crawford  has  been  able  to  work  out  the 
form  and  size  of  this  structure  with  considerable 
accuracy.  For  the  details  of  method  and  results 
the  reader  should  consult  his  book.  It  is  possible 
to  pass  a  thin  rod  through  this  structure  in  any 
direction  without  causing  a  breakdown,  and 
without  encountering  any  perceptible  resistance. 


Nevertheless  the  structure  can  resist  com- 
pressional,  tensional  and  torsional  stresses  of 
very  considerable  magnitude  as  I  am  able  to 
testify  from  personal  experience. 

I  may  mention  here  that  I  have  witnessed  these 
phenomena  myself  under  good  observing  condi- 
tions and  that  I  am  prepared  to  certify  in  the 
most  unequivocal  manner  that  they  are  absolutely 
authentic ;  that  is  to  say  the  result  neither 
of  fraud  —  conscious  or  unconscious  —  nor  of 
illusion. 

Indeed,  I  do  not  suppose  that  an  intelligent 
person  could  suppose  them  to  be  due  to  anything 
of  the  sort  after  a  careful  study  of  Dr.  Crawford's 
book,  quite  apart  from  any  personal  observation 
and  I  only  add  my  own  testimony  as  a  small 
make-weight  for  what  it  may  be  worth. 

We  are  here  confronted  with  a  sort  of 
mechanical  paradox.  How  can  we  conceive 
that  the  structure  manages  to  combine  the 
contrary  attributes  of  rigidity  and  impalpability  ? 
Rigidity  means  simply  the  power  of  resisting 
deformation  under  stress.  That  is  to  say  that 
in  order  for  a  body  to  be  rigid  it  must  be  capable 
of  developing  within  itself  forces  which  shall 
counteract  those  which  tend  to  deform  it.  If 
we  apply  a  stress — a  deforming  force — to  a  rigid 
body,  then  this  force  must  be  met  by  some 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  89 

opposing  force ;  otherwise  the  body  will  be 
deformed.  Normally  this  is  a  matter  of  mole- 
cular cohesion,  etc. 

Now,  this  structure  resists  deformation  under 
stress,  and  it  therefore  follows  that  the 
deforming  forces  must  be  counteracted  by 
opposing  forces. 

But  the  structure  is  impalpable,  and  we  can 
pass  a  rod  through  it  in  any  direction  without 
encountering  any  resistance. 

This  being  so  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  the 
forces  resisting  deformation  can  be  applied  from 
any  direction  in  which  we  can  move  the  rod, 
i.e.,  from  any  direction  known  and  accessible  to 
us. 

The  more  one  tries  to  think  out  what  is  involved 
in  the  idea  of  an  impalpable  and  yet  rigid 
structure,  the  more  hopeless  it  seems. 

But  I  think  that  the  concept  of  four-dimensional 
space  will  help  us  even  here. 

We  know  two  things.  First  that  the  structure 
is  rigid  and  therefore  that  the  deforming  stresses 
are  counteracted  by  opposing  forces  and,  second, 
that  these  opposing  forces  are  apparently  not 
applied  from  any  direction  with  which  we  are 
acquainted.  But  is  it  not  possible  that  they  may 
be  applied  from  some  direction  with  which  we 
are  not  acquainted  ? 


go       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

From  some  direction,  in  fact,  of  which  the 
hypothetical  fourth  rectangular  axis  of  space  is 
a  component. 

Is  it  possible  that  the  matter  which  is  drawn 
from  the  body  of  the  medium,  and  which  forms 
the  structure,  is  composed  of  molecules  whose 
atoms  are  arranged  not  in  space  of  three 
dimensions  but  in  space  of  four  dimensions  ? 

I  do  not  say  that  this  is  necessarily  so  ;  but 
I  must  confess  that  to  me  it  looks  rather  like  it. 
Still  less  am  I  prepared  to  say  that  the  atoms  are 
arranged  four  dimensionally.  We  do  not  know 
enough  for  that  yet.  But  it  is,  I  think,  a 
possibility,  although  for  all  I  know  to  the  contrary 
there  may  be  many  other  ways  in  which  forces 
operating  in  four-space  might  act  on  three- 
dimensional  atoms  and  molecules. 

Consider  a  two-dimensional  analogy  again. 

Imagine  a  number  of  flat-headed  drawing  pins 
lying  points  upward  on  a  flat  surface.  Taken 
collectively  as  a  system  they  will  have  no  rigidity. 
Now  imagine  a  board  pressed  down  on  those 
points  so  that  they  penetrate  into  the  board. 
The  points  and  the  board  alike  will  be  invisible 
to  the  two  space  beings  inhabiting  the  surface 
and  yet  the  drawing-pins,  taken  collectively  as 
a  system  would  have  acquired  rigidity.  Deform- 
ing stresses  would  be  resisted  by  cohesive 


PSYCHIC  RESEARCH  91 

forces  operating  outside  the  two-space  surface 
altogether. 

This  analogy  is,  naturally,  imperfect ;  but 
I  think  that  it  enables  us  to  form  some  idea  of 
the  way  in  which  the  rigidity  of  the  levitating 
structure  might  result  from  its  being  held 
together  by  binding  forces  operating  outside 
our  space. 

The  only  alternative  is  to  suppose  that  the 
particles  of  which  the  structure  is  composed 
are  rendered  rigid  by  virtue  of  some  peculiar 
motion  of  the  ether  of  a  nature  entirely  unknown 
to  us  and  different  from  any  type  of  ethereal 
motion  with  which  we  are  at  present  acquainted. 
This  is  palpably  unsatisfactory  and  has  the  grave 
defect,  in  an  explanation,  of  failing  even  to  begin 
to  explain. 

In  an  article  published  in  "  Light,"  for  July  14, 
1917,  I  discussed  this  point  in  somewhat  greater 
detail. 

This  is  all  that  I  have  to  say  with  respect  to  the 
phenomena  which  are  essentially  "  Psychical." 
In  the  next  chapter  I  shall  deal  with  two  other 
applications  of  the  theory  to  more  general 
questions. 


CHAPTER    IV 

SOME    OTHER    POSSIBLE    APPLICATIONS    OF    THE 
HYPOTHESIS 

In  this  chapter  I  propose  to  deal  first  with  the 
questions  of  Time  and  prevision  and  in  the  next  to 
show  how  the  higher  space  ideas  help  us  to  clear 
up  certain  difficulties  in  connection  with  Vitality 
and  Will. 

The  question  of  the  nature  of  time  is  one  which 
brings  us  into  close  contact  with  Philosophic 
and  Metaphysical  thought  and  one  is  apt  to  find 
oneself  in  very  deep  waters  indeed.  Still  I  think 
it  is  possible  to  show  how  the  higher  space  ideas 
come  in  without  involving  myself  in  controversial 
statements.  I  shall  leave  it  to  others  to  decide 
whether,  as  I  am  inclined  to  suspect,  the 
acceptance  of  higher  space  concepts  as  actualities 
would  provide  Metaphysicians  with  a  somewhat 
new  field  of  speculation  or  modified  methods  of 
expression. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  some  writers  that 
"  the  fourth  dimension  is  time." 
92 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  93 

At  first  sight  this  definition  would  seem  to 
conflict  with  our  original  statement  that  it  is  an 
unknown  direction  in  space  at  right  angles  to 
every  direction  which  we  can  find.  But,  as  a 
matter  of  fact  there  is  a  certain  amount  to  be 
said  for  the  idea.  It  might  be  pointed  out, 
for  instance  that  for  an  object  to  exist  at  all  it 
must  possess  some  "  extension "  in  time.  It 
must,  that  is  to  say,  not  only  possess  a  certain 
length  and  breadth  and  thickness  but  must  also 
exist  for  a  certain  time.  Otherwise  it  simply 
does  not  exist.  Then,  again,  if  we  were  able  to 
"  travel  "  in  time  we  might  fairly  claim  to  be 
travelling  in  a  previously  unknown  direction, 
different  that  is  from  any  direction  at  present 
known  to  us. 

Moreover,  as  I  showed  at  the  end  of  the  first 
chapter,  changes  in  our  space  could  be  accounted 
for  by  supposing  them  to  represent  our  perception 
of  a  series  of  parallel  sections  made  by  our  three- 
dimensional  space  cutting  an  assemblage  of 
suitably  shaped  and  arranged  four-dimensional 
solids.  It  is  here  that  I  think  we  find  a 
clue  which  may  perhaps  be  relevant  to  the 
present  discussion. 

I  am  far  from  being  prepared  to  say  that  the 
fourth  dimension  is  time  because  I  doubt  whether 
time  as  commonly  understood  is  an  "absolute" 


94       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

thing.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  rather  a  limitation 
of  our  finite  consciousness. 

In  the  Divine  Consciousness  which  I  take  to 
be  alone  Absolute  there  can  be,  surely,  no  Past 
or  Future ;  all  must  be  comprehended  in  the 
Eternal  Now. 

But  I  do  think  it  possible  that  if  we  were  not 
limited  to  three  dimensions  in  thought  and 
experience  we  might  be  able  greatly  to  modify 
our  present  conceptions  of  time  and  to  understand 
many  things  with  regard  to  it  which  at  present 
appear  obscure. 

Let  us  start  by  considering  for  a  moment  our 
ordinary  idea  of  "  Time."  To  start  with  we 
associate  it  with  clocks  and  next,  if  we  go  a  step 
further  back,  with  the  movement  of  the  earth 
relative  to  the  sun  and  stars.  A  clock  is  merely 
a  mechanical  device  for  subdividing  into  equal 
parts  of  suitable  size  the  intervals  between 
successive  recurrences  of  certain  astronomical 
events.  In  fact  our  ordinary  ideas  of  time  are 
determined  by  a  wholly  fortuitous  arrangement 
of  the  component  parts  of  the  Solar  System. 
If  the  masses  etc.  were  other  than  they  are,  our 
day  and  year  would  be  altered  accordingly. 
It  is  quite  conceivable  that  in  some  highly  complex 
system  of  several  "  suns "  moving  under  the 
influence  of  their  mutual  attractions  and  attended 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  95 

each  by  its  own  sub-system  of  satellites,  there 
might  be  a  world  from  which  all  the  observable 
astronomical  phenomena  would  be  so  complicated 
that  its  inhabitants  could  detect  no  regularity 
in  them  at  all. 

If,  for  instance,  any  given  astronomical  grouping 
of  the  observable  bodies  only  recurred  once  in 
a  hundred  generations  of  the  inhabitants,  the 
measurement  of  time  from  astronomical  data 
would  be  scarcely  practicable. 

A  similar  state  of  things  would  result  if  the 
average  life  of  a  man  on  earth  lasted  about  ten 
minutes. 

Again  we  know  that  the  regularity  of  the 
changes  in  our  system  is  really  only  apparent,  for 
all  the  motions  by  which  we  habitually  measure 
time  are  gradually  altering  under  the  influence 
of  tidal  friction. 

So  we  see  that  all  our  ordinary  ideas  of  time 
are  based  on  the  fissiparous  assumption  that 
certain  distributions  of  matter  will  occur 
regularly  ;  that  is  to  say  in  such  a  manner  that 
if  we  could  observe  any  two  successive  cycles 
simultaneously  they  would  appear  coincident. 

The  same  can  be  shown  to  apply  to  any  other 
system  of  time  measurement  which  we  can 
substitute  for  the  observation  of  astronomical 
phenomena. 


96       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

This  is  so  because,  apart  from  all  other  reasons, 
every  conceivable  method  must  be  based  on 
the  assumption  that  the  properties  of  matter  are 
invariable.  But  these  seem  to  be  functions  of 
the  properties  of  ether  and  since  the  solar  system 
is  certainly,  and  the  whole  universe  probably, 
moving  through  ether-filled  space,  this  means 
that  our  methods  of  time  measurement  must 
ultimately  be  based  on  the  assumption  that  the 
ether  is  homogeneous. 

Very  probably  it  is  ;  but  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  be — on  a  priori  grounds. 

Now  M.  Bergson  has  been  at  pains  to 
discriminate  between  this  time  "  of  succession  " 
which  we  know  and  true  time — the  time  "  of 
duration."  His  view,  as  I  understand  it,  is 
that  the  succession  of  events  or  "  spatial 
simultaneities  "  by  which  we  measure  time  no 
more  is  time  than  the  succession  of  marks  on  a 
foot-rule  is  the  material  which  we  measure  with  it. 

What  we  actually  experience  as  time  does 
not  necessarily  correspond  with  the  spatial 
recurrences  which  measure  it. 

We  all  of  us  say,  when  we  are  bored,  that  "  the 
time  passed  slowly  "  or,  when  we  are  happy  and 
amused,  that  "  the  time  flew "  and  although 
this  may  appear  at  first  sight  to  be  no  more  than 
a  loose  way  of  speaking  I  think  that  there  is 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  97 

more  in  it  than  that.  It  is  here,  in  fact,  that 
we  find  what  I  can  only  call  a  "  check  "  on  the 
measurement  of  time. 

It  is  the  apprehension  of  something  capable 
of  undergoing  change,  of  Psychic  states  to  wit, 
whose  changes  are  yet  totally  independent  of 
the  spatial  changes  by  which  we  ordinarily 
measure  time.  A  man  who  is  hanging  by  a 
frayed  rope  over  a  precipice  waiting  for  someone 
to  come  and  rescue  him  might  very  likely  say 
that  "  It  seemed  hours  "  although  it  might  really 
have  been  no  more  than  a  very  few  minutes. 

Yet  in  one  sense  he  might  be  speaking  the  literal 
truth.  The  changes  which  took  place  in  his 
mental  states  during  those  few  minutes  might 
well  be  as  complex  and  extensive  as  those  he 
would  normally  experience  in  the  course  of  hours. 

This  should  suffice  to  make  clear  the  difference 
between  the  "  real  time  process "  which  we 
measure  and  the  recurrence  of  spatial  simul- 
taneities by  which  we  measure  it. 

If  we  consider  the  latter  alone  we  soon  find 
that  they  are  difficult  of  comprehension.  As 
Mr.  Lindsay  says  in  his  book  "  The  Philosophy 
of  Bergson,"  p.  128. 

"  If  we  eliminate  real  time  altogether  we  get 

a    number    of    simultaneities    whose    relation 

to  each  other  we  cannot  understand.  For 


98       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

the  relation  between  the  simultaneities  is  taken 
to  be  that  of  the  parts  to  the  whole,  but  .  .  . 
that  is  itself  a  simultaneity  .  .  .  the  relation 
of  the  simultaneities  which  are  now  taken 
as  in  their  aggregate  constituting  change 
must  be  conceived  of  as  necessary,  as  some- 
how all  existing  at  once." 
And  again  : 

"  We  can  only  understand  change  by  realising 
that  it  is  incapable  of  spatial  expression.  ..." 
This  quotation  seems  to  me  to  be  important 
because  it  brings  out  clearly  the  points  with 
regard  to  which  I  think  that  the  higher  space 
hypothesis  may  be  important. 

For  although  I  am  entirely  in  accord  with  the 
idea  that  there  are,  so  to  speak,  two  sorts  of 
time  I  feel  that  in  the  light  of  the  hypothesis 
we  cannot  allow  the  statement  that  "  change 
is  something  which  is  incapable  of  spatial 
expression  "  to  pass  unchallenged. 

If  it  were  put  in  the  form,  "  material  change 
is  incapable  of  expression  in  terms  of  space  of 
three  dimensions,"  I  should  have  nothing  to  say. 
But  in  the  course  of  my  remarks  on  the 
phenomena  of  change  in  a  two-dimensional  world, 
I  pointed  out  that  it  is  possible  to  integrate  an 
infinite  number  of  three-spatial  simultaneities 
into  a  four-dimensional  whole. 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  99 

The  introduction  of  this  concept  seems  to  me 
calculated  to  modify  the  whole  aspect  of  the 
question. 

For,  by  its  light,  we  see  that  all  the  three-spatial 
simultaneities  by  which  we  mark  time  can  exist 
at  once. 

They  can  dQ  so  because  the  arrangement  of 
material  particles  which  constitutes  a  given 
simultaneity  may  be  regarded,  if  we  so  wish, 
as  a  thin  section  of  a  four  dimensional  solid. 

We  can  say,  then,  that  there  are  two  sorts  of 
time. 

First  there  is  ordinary  Physical  "  time " 
which  is  measured  by  the  recurrence  of  three- 
spatial  simultaneities  and  this,  if  we  choose, 
may  be  regarded  as  produced  by  the  passage 
across  our  space  of  something  which  has  extension 
in  four  dimensions. 

Secondly,  there  is  what  I  am  inclined  to  call 
Subjective  time,  consisting  of  changes  in  Psychic 
states  ;  and  which  may  be  regarded,  provisionally, 
as  being  perceived  by  virtue  of  changes  in 
"  objects,"  including  the  vehicles  of  our  own 
consciousnesses,  in  space  of  four  dimensions, 
or,  at  any  rate,  in  space  of  a  dimensionality 
higher  than  three. 

I  do  not  mean  the  foregoing  remarks  to  be  taken 
too  literally  for  I  do  not  regard  three-dimensional 


ioo      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

change  as  produced  by  the  passage  across  our 
space  of  actual  four-dimensional  solids.  This 
seems  to  me  to  be  altogether  too  crude  an  idea  and 
was  only  introduced  to  bring  out  my  point  that 
three-dimensional  change  is  capable  of  expression 
in  terms  of  four  space. 

Whether  it  is  solely  a  phenomenon  of  conscious- 
ness or  whether  there  may  be  something  in  the 
nature  of  four  -  dimensional  "lines  of  force" 
which  cut  three-dimensional  space  and  determine 
material  distributions  I  am  not  at  all  prepared 
even  to  surmise. 

A  side  light  on  this  matter  of  the  two  sorts 
of  time  is  given  by  the  phenomena  of  time  in 
dreams.  It  is  well  known  that  we  may  be 
awakened  by  a  noise  and  that  in  the  very  few 
seconds  between  the  occurrence  of  the  noise 
and  our  becoming  completely  conscious  we  may 
experience  a  long  and  complicated  dream  in 
which  we  may  do  and  say  things  which  would 
take  quite  a  long  time  in  actual  life  and  this 
without  any  sense  of  hurry. 

This  seems  to  show  that  the  "  time  scale  " 
for  the  dream  state  is  not  the  same  as  that  to 
which  we  are  accustomed  in  our  waking  hours. 
The  difference  should  be  sought,  as  Mr.  Bragdon 
points  out,  in  the  differing  vehicle  of  con- 
sciousness. 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  101 

This  idea  can  be  pushed  much  further. 

I  have  suggested  that  there  is  a  sort  of  time 
which  is,  so  to  speak,  peculiar  to  our  space  and 
which  is  expressible  in  terms  of  four  space ; 
and  that  there  is  another  sort  of  time  which 
appertains  to  four  space  itself,  associated,  that 
is,  with  four-space  change  in  the  same  way  that 
three-space  time  is  associated  with  three-space 
change. 

But  if  we  accept  the  idea  that  there  are  more 
dimensions  of  space  than  three  we  cannot  refuse 
to  consider  the  possibility  that  there  are  more 
than  four.  If  so  we  must  say  that  four-space 
change  is  in  turn  expressible  in  terms  of  five-space 
in  just  the  same  way  that  three-space  change  is 
expressible  in  terms  of  four-space. 

Now,  it  is  evident  that  a  being  embodied  in 
four -space  and  possessing,  either  temporarily 
or  permanently,  no  three-space  vehicle,  will  be 
unaffected  by  three-space  change  and  will,  there- 
fore, be  independent  of  three-space  time.  Four- 
space  change  would  take  the  place  of  the  three- 
spatial  simultaneities  by  which  we,  embodied 
in  three  -  space,  reckon  time,  and  five  -  space 
change  would  take  the  place  of  the  changes  in 
Psychic  states  which  for  us  give  rise  to  the 
second  aspect  of  time  which  we  have  been 
discussing. 

H 


.- 


102       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

The  whole  dual  nature  of  time  would  be 
repeated  but  with  the  difference  of  being  one 
dimension  higher. 

The  same  may  be  applied  to  five-space  and 
six-space  and  so  on,  indefinitely. 

In  each  case  the  changes  giving  rise  to  the 
experience  of  subjective  time  would  presumably 
be  the  resultant  of  the  changes  of  all  spaces 
higher  th^n  that  of  the  lowest  vehicle,  but  that 
of  the  next  higher  space  would  predominate. 

Hence  Consciousness  could  never  be  altogether 
free  of  the  experience  of  time  until  it  was  embodied 
only  in  the  highest  space  of  all,  which  we  must 
suppose  to  possess  the  attributes  of  infinitely 
dimensional  space. 

And  this  will  only  apply  to  the  Divine  Conscious- 
ness. 

All  this  is  admittedly  highly  speculative  but 
seems  to  me  the  natural  deduction  if  we  assume 
the  existence  of  spaces  of  dimensionality  higher 
than  four. 

The  nature  of  maximally  dimensional  space 
is  a  question  which  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss 
here  as  it  is  somewhat  conspicuously  outside 
the  sphere  of  practical  politics.  For  other 
observations  on  this  subject,  including  some 
remarks  on  the  concept  of  "  curved  time," 
the  interested  reader  may  profitably  refer 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  103 

to     Mr.    Bragdon's    book    "  Four    Dimensional 
Vistas." 

Mr.    Klein    treats    the    question    in    a    rather 
different,   but  highly  interesting,  manner  in  his 
book  "  Science  and  the  Infinite." 
PREVISION. 

The  subject  of  prevision  is  obviously  closely 
allied  to  that  of  time,  since  the  only  considerable 
difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  incidents  forseen 
are  removed  in  time.  They  are  wrapped  in  the 
darkness  of  the  future  and  we  say  that  they 
"  have  not  happened  yet." 

There  are  two  forms  which  an  attempt  to 
explain  the  fairly  numerous  good  cases  of  prevision 
may  take. 

One  way  is  to  say  that  the  future  is  latent 
in  the  present  in  that  it  is  determined  by  factors 
at  present  in  existence.  The  other  is  to  say 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  Past  or  Future, 
but  that  both  are  comprehended  in  the  Now  and 
that  it  is  merely  on  account  of  the  limitations  of 
our  Consciousness  that  we  cannot  apprehend  them. 

According  to  the  former  view  the  power  of 
prevision  is  the  result  of  a  mere  heightening  of 
the  faculties  by  which  we  can  always  foresee 
the  future  to  some  slight  extent.  If  we  see  a 
blind  man  walking  towards  the  edge  of  a  cliff 
it  is  not  difficult  to  foresee  that  he  will,  probably, 


104      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

fall  off  it  and  be  smashed  at  the  bottom.  Such 
a  sight  could  easily  be  supposed  to  give  rise  to 
a  visualisation  of  the  corpse  at  the  bottom  of 
the  cliff,  which  might  pass  for  a  prophetic  vision. 

In  such  simple  matters  it  is  not  difficult  to 
imagine  that  a  suitable  clairvoyant  state, 
conbined  with  unconscious  but  accurate  reasoning 
and  subsequent  visualisation,  would  enable  the 
percipient  to  forecast  the  future. 

But  clearly  the  accuracy  of  such  a  forecast 
would  depend  on  the  perception  of  all  the  factors 
involved,  as  well  as  on  the  precision  of  the 
unconscious  reasoning. 

Hence,  although  we  might  readily  accept  this 
explanation  in  the  case  of  previs'on  of  events 
in  the  immediate  future,  or  in  the  case  of  vague 
presentiments,  it  becomes  increasing, y  difficult 
to  do  so,  as  the  event  prevised  becomes  more 
remote  and  the  number  of  factors  which  may 
possibly  influence  the  issue  are  proportionately 
increased. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  these  factors  of  which 
I  speak  must  include  Psychic  states  and  so  forth. 

To  use  the  terminology  to  which  we  have  by 
this  time  become  accustomed,  we  could, 
theoretically,  forecast  the  distribution  of  every 
particle  of  matter  in  three -space,  provided  we 
knew  present  distribution  and  velocities ;  and 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  105 

provided  also  that  no  interference  could  arise 
from  external,  i.e.,  four-space,  sources.  But  in 
order  to  be  certain  of  the  latter,  we  must  know 
all  about  four -space  dispositions  and  so  on  to 
the  "  N  "th  degree. 

Absolute  prevision  could  therefore  only  result 
from  a  complete  knowledge  of  all  the  factors  in 
every  space  combined  with  absolutely  perfect 
reasoning  powers. 

Although,  as  will  be  seen,  certain  of  the  ideas 
in  the  above  have  a  place  in  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  true  theory  of  prevision,  the  explanation  as 
above  described  does  not  appear  to  me  to  be 
satisfying. 

The  heightening  of  faculty  required  in  all  but 
the  very  simplest  cases  is  too  great  to  be  accepted 
except  in  the  last  resort. 

Now,  as  regards  the  other  theory,  that  the 
future  does  actually  exist  now  and  that  only  our 
own  limitations  prevent  us  from  apprehending  it. 

Consider  again  the  crude  and  metaphorical 
representation  of  change  as  resulting  from  the 
passage  across  our  three-space  of  a  congeries  of 
four  -  space  solids  which  supposes  that  the 
distribution  of  matter  at  any  moment  is  simply 
a  very  thin  cross  section  of  this  congeries. 

If  this  were  the  case  it  is  evident  that  to 
anyone  who  had  the  power  of  moving  freely  in 


four  dimensions  it  would  be  possible  to  move 
up  the  mass  and  see  what  some  cross  section 
was  like  which  had  not  yet  arrived  at  our  space. 

This  is  desperately  crude  but  it  gives  the 
general  idea. 

In  order  to  grasp  it  better  we  will  transpose 
it  into  terms  of  two-  and  three-space  at  the  same 
time  altering  it  slightly.  Suppose  that  a  two- 
space  world  consists  of  a  colossal  soap  film. 
Imagine  a  thin  thread  passing  through  the  film 
and  stretched  between  two  points,  one  above  the 
film  and  one  below.  If  these  two  points  move 
perpendicularly  to  the  film  the  thread  will  move 
accordingly.  The  point  where  the  thread  cuts 
the  film  will  remain  stationaYy  if  the  thread  was 
perpendicular  to  the  latter  to  start  with,  but  will 
move  if  the  thread  was  originally  slanting. 

To  a  two-space  being  inhabiting  the  film,  all 
that  will  be  visible  of  the  thread  will  be  a  minute 
circle,  an  atom  of  two-space  matter  let  us  say. 

Now  let  us  imagine  an  enormous  number  of 
such  threads,  sufficient  to  produce  all  the  atoms 
necessary  to  make  up  a  complete  two-space 
universe.  Suppose  also  that  these  are  twisted 
and  intertwined  in  the  most  complicated  possible 
manner.  Then  as  they  pass  across  the  soap  film 
they  will  give  rise  to  the  most  complex  changes 
in  the  two-space  world. 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  107 

A  three  space  being,  however,  could  see  the 
filamentary  structure  as  a  whole  and  would  not 
be  limited  to  the  particular  section  which 
happened  to  be  crossing  the  film  at  any  given 
moment. 

I  must  again  insist  that  I  do  not  for  a  moment 
regard  this  as  being  anything  like  a  true  picture 
of  what  actually  occurs.  The  point  I  wish  to 
make  is  merely  that  if,  as  seems  to  be  the  case, 
three-space  change  can  be  represented  spatially 
by  the  use  of  four  space  ideas,  then  it  is  not 
utterly  inconceivable  that  a  consciousness  free 
to  move  in  four-space  and  independent  of  three- 
space  limitations,  should  be  able  in  some  obscure 
way  to  foresee  coming  changes. 

There  is  a  prevalent  notion  to  the  effect  that 
if  we  admit  the  possibility  of  prevision  we  are 
bound  to  become  involved  in  the  slough  of 
Fatalism. 

"  If  we  can  foresee  what  is  going  to  happen," 
it  is  urged,  "  then  the  future  must  be  already 
settled,  and  we  have  no  power  of  altering  it." 

This  view  appears  to  me  to  be  fallacious. 

Consider  again  for  a  moment  the  filamentary 
world. 

Our  forecast  of  events  therein  is  based  on  the 
assumption  that  the  filamentary  structures 


loS      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

remain  unaltered,  that  the  cross-sections  which 
will  be  traversed  by  the  film  will  not  be  changed 
before  it  gets  there. 

This  is  pure  assumption  and  quite  unwarranted. 

In  the  first  place  the  two  -  space  beings 
themselves  might  be  able  to  alter  the  arrangement 
of  the  threads  during  their  passage  across  the  film, 
implying  of  course  the  exercise  of  three-space 
forces,  and  the  possession  of  a  certain  degree  of 
three-dimensionality,  on  their  part.  In  the  second 
place  all  sorts  of  extraneous  three  space  forces 
might  be  applied. 

The  argument  does  not  perhaps  apply 
especially  felicitously  to  this  particular  analogy, 
but  translated  into  more  general  terms  it  means 
that  three -space  change,  although  expressible 
in  terms  of  four-space,  and  perhaps  for  the  very 
reason  that  it  is  thus  expressible,  is  susceptible 
to  modification  under  the  influence  of  factors 
which  have  no  three-dimensionality. 

As  stated  at  the  outset,  absolute  prevision 
necessitates  every  factor  being  accounted  for, 
and  these  factors  may  appear,  not  merely  in 
three-space  or  four-space,  but  in  N-space  too. 

In  fact,  the  more  accurate  prevision  is  to  be, 
the  wider  survey  must  the  percipient  take. 

In  order  to  attain  absolute  prevision  the 
precipient  must  be  able  to  function  consciously 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  109 

in  maximally  -  dimensional  space.  But  this 
ability  I  take  to  be  the  exclusive  prerogative  of 
the  Divine  Consciousness. 

The  purely  speculatory  character  of  the  fore- 
going will  be  evident  and  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be 
taken  as  more  than  an  attempt  to  convey  a 
general  impression  of  ideas  which  seem  somewhat 
suggestive. 

It  seems  appropriate  to  end  a  chapter  frankly 
given  over  to  inchoate  and  somewhat  formless 
speculations,  with  some  remarks  on  the  objectivity 
or  otherwise  of  space  in  general. 

These  remarks  have  been  more  especially 
prompted  by  Mr.  E.  L.  Gardner's  article  on  "  The 
Fourth  Dimension "  which  appeared  in  the 
Theosophist  for  October  1916,  by  a  pamphlet 
for  private  circulation  written  by  Mr.  T.  Olman 
Todd,  1915,  and  by  Mr.  Klein's  remarks  on  Space 
in  his  book  "  Science  and  the  Infinite." 

Throughout  this  work  I  have  treated  four- 
dimensional  space  as  an  objective  reality  and, 
as  will  appear,  I  consider  that  this  is  perfectly 
justifiable. 

The  general  tendency  of  the  above-mentioned 
writers  seems  to  be  to  suggest  that  this  attitude 
is  fallacious  and  that  all  space,  of  whatever 
dimensionality,  is  rather  to  be  regarded  as  a 
phenomenon  of  consciousness.  In  saying  this 


no      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  reflecting  with  precision 
the  views  expressed  by  the  writers  in  question. 
I  am  merely  giving  the  general  effect  produced 
on  my  mind  by  their  ideas. 

I  may  say  at  once  that  I  think  that  they  are 
probably  perfectly  right  and  that  no  space  of 
any  kind  is  really  objective. 

I  am,  for  instance,  disposed  to  agree  with  Mr. 
Gardner  when  he  says  that  "  However  willingly 
we  may  grant  that  behind  the  description  '  Fourth 
Dimension  '  there  stands  something  that  is  real, 
it  is  of  importance  that  that  reality  should  be 
described  in  terms  of  Life  and  Consciousness  and 
not  be  regarded  as  a  further  extension  of  Matter 
or  Form." 

Mr.  Klein  concludes  that  "  our  very  conception 
of  space  is  one  of  the  modes  only  under  which 
motion  or  physical  phenomena  are  presented 
to  our  consciousness." 

I  have  neither  the  knowledge  nor  the  temerity 
to  embark  upon  a  discussion  of  the  point  from  the 
metaphysical  point  of  view  and  all  I  wish  to  do 
is  to  show  that  I  am  aware  that  all  our  ideas 
regarding  space  are  liable  to  be  modified  at  the 
hands  of  the  philosophers  and  that  I  have  no 
desire  to  minimise  the  importance  of  their 
contributions.  On  the  contrary  I  think  it 
probable  that  these  may  prove  to  be  of  the  utmost 


TIME  AND  PREVISION  in 

value.  They  may,  for  instance,  by  interpreting 
spatial  experience  in  terms  of  consciousness, 
throw  light  on  the  very  considerable  difficulty 
to  which  I  drew  attention  on  page  48. 

But  I  submit  that  for  the  present  purpose  we 
can  legitimately  disregard  the  whole  thing. 
It  may  well  be  that  the  change  in  passing  from  our 
present  state  of  consciousness  to  that  which  I 
have  described  as  consciousness  in  four  dimensions 
is  subjective  rather  than  objective,  that  the 
change  would  be  in  our  consciousness  rather  than 
in  spatial  conditions.  But  whatever  may  be  the 
real  nature  of  our  three-dimensional  space  from 
the  strictly  academic  point  of  view  we  can  and 
habitually  do  treat  it  as  an  objective  reality  and 
I  think  it  fair  to  claim  an  equal  licence  in  dealing 
with  four-dimensional  space. 

Pure  consciousness  is  an  elusive  thing  to  handle 
and  if  we  find  evidence  to  the  effect,  for  example, 
that  the  state  of  consciousness  in  which  we  exist 
when  separated  from  the  body  can  be  accurately 
represented  by  the  higher  space  hypothesis,  then 
surely  we  had  better  say  that  it  *s  existence 
in  four-dimensional  space  and  have  done  with  it, 
just  as  we  say  that  our  normal  existence  is 
existence  in  three  dimensional  space. 

After  all  the  whole  matter  is  one  of 
"  relativity  "  so  to  speak.  The  final  effect  with 


H2       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

which  we  are  concerned  is  the  reaction  of  reality 
on  our  minds  and,  just  as  we  can  in  dynamics 
reduce  any  one  member  of  a  system  to  rest  and 
treat  all  motions  as  relative  to  that  so  here  it 
makes  no  practical  difference  whether  it  is  our 
mind  or  reality  which  changes  provided  that  the 
changed  relation  between  them  is  correctly 
expressed. 


CHAPTER    V 

VITALITY   AND   WILL 

Another  and  particularly  happy  illustration 
of  the  way  in  which  the  higher  space  concepts 
enable  one  to  solve  awkward  dilemmas  is  to  be 
found  in  the  problems  of  Vitality  and  Will. 
Readers  who  are  interested  in  these  topics  would 
do  well  to  refer  to  Mr.  Hereward  Carrington's 
"  Problems  of  Psychical  Research  "  or  to  his 
"  Vitality,  Fasting,  and  Nutrition." 

There  are  in  general  two  main  views  which  may 
be  taken  about  Vitality.  We  may  either  suppose 
that  Life  is  purely  a  product  of  the  body,  that  it 
is  a  mere  physiological  function  and  nothing  more, 
or  one  may  suppose  that  so  far  from  the  body 
being  the  primary  cause  of  Life  the  exact  converse 
is  the  case — that  Life  is  the  raison  d'etre  of  the 
body.  It  may  be  that  everything  that  we 
recognize  as  "  vital,"  every  attribute  which 
enables  us  to  distinguish  animate  from  inanimate 
objects,  is  no  more  than  a  purely  physical 
phenomenon  the  product  of  unusually  complicated 
chemical  actions  :  or  it  may  be  that  the  chemico- 

"3 


ii4      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

physical  complex  which  we  call  the  body  is  only 
the  means  whereby  the  pressing  tide  of  Life 
manages  to  manifest  itself  in  the  world.  This 
latter  is  the  view  held  by  M.  Bergson,  by  Mr. 
Carrington  and  by  myself. 

"  M.  Bergson  regards  matter  as  the  dam 
which  keeps  back  the  rush  of  life.  Organise 
it  a  little  (as  in  the  protozoa),  i.e.,  slightly  raise 
the  sluice, — and  a  little  life  will  squeeze  through. 
Organise  it  elaborately  (as  in  man),  i.e.,  raise 
the  sluice  a  good  deal,  and  much  life  will  squeeze 
through." 

(The  Right  Hon.  A.  J.  Balfour.) 
This  is  the  "  transmissive  "  as  opposed  to  the 
"  productive  "  theory  and  the  whole  position  is 
very  like  that  which  obtained  in  Psychology 
some  years  ago.  William  James  then  showed 
that  although  it  was  possible  to  interpret  the 
observed  facts  of  Psychology  on  the  hypothesis 
that  the  brain  "  produced  "  consciousness  it  was 
equally  legitimate  to  do  so  on  the  hypothesis 
that  it  "  transmitted  "  it. 

As  he  said  "...  Mere  coincidence  in  two 
sets  of  phenomena  does  not  prove  that  they  are 
causally  connected,  that  one  produces  the  other. 
They  may  be  quite  separate  from  one  another 
(psycho-physical  parallelism)  or  both  may  be 
aspects  of  something  else." 


VITALITY  AND  WILL  115 

Personally  I  should  be  prepared  to  admit  only 
the  latter  possibility.  Causeless  parallelism  is 
incredible  ;  as  James  himself  admits  elsewhere. 

The  analogy  is  very  close.  Just  as  conscious- 
ness is  usually  conceived  to  be  due  to  the 
functioning  of  the  brain  but  may,  on  the  contrary 
exist  apart  from  it  and  merely  use  the  brain  as 
a  channel  of  manifestation,  so  also  may  Life 
exist  apart  from  and  use  the  body. 

I  will  not  go  into  the  various  arguments  which 
support  this  view.  Perhaps  the  most  striking 
is  that  from  the  necessity  for  sleep — a  phenomenon 
which  appears  to  be  exclusively  associated  with 
Life.  A  mechanism  needs  replenishing  with  fuel, 
it  must  have  worn  parts  replaced  and  both 
these  processes  are  accurately  paralleled  in  the 
body  of  any  living  organism.  But  an  engine 
does  not  need  sleep,  whereas  a  living  organism 
not  only  needs  it  but  cannot  be  satisfied  with  any 
substitute  for  it.  It  looks  therefore  as  if  Life 
could  not  be  maintained  from  purely  physical 
sources  and  this  lends  support  to  the  view  that 
it  is  an  essentially  extra-physical  thing  trans- 
mitted by,  but  not  arising  from,  physical  actions. 

But  this  view  leaves  us  with  the  difficulty 
that  if  we  suppose  that  Life  is  transcendent  to 
the  Physical  and  uses  it  only  as  a  means  of 
manifestation  we  cannot  see  how  it  can  do  so 


n6      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

without  partaking  of  the  nature  of  the  physical 
and  so  losing  its  "  selective,"  "  guiding "  or 
"  intelligent  "  qualities.  For  in  order  that  things 
should  be  causally  connected  they  must  have 
qualities  in  common.  Are  then  we  to  say  that 
life  is  a  form  of  energy  or  that  it  is  not  ? 

As  Mr.  Carrington  says  :  "  We  are  .  .  .  driven 
into  this  dilemma  :  life  must  be  an  energy — but, 
as  such,  it  cannot  be  purposive  !  Life  is  pur- 
posive, yet  it  must  be  an  energy — for  otherwise 
it  could  not  affect  the  bodily  energies  and  the 
material  world." 

M.  Bergson  adopts  the  "  hair  trigger  "  theory 
and  supposes  the  Life  only  affects  the  physical 
energies  of  the  body  very  slightly,  just  enough 
to  deflect  them  this  way  or  that.  But  this  is 
not  getting  out  of  the  difficulty  at  all,  for  the 
problem  is  one  not  of  degree  but  of  kind  ;  it  is 
just  as  difficult  to  imagine  "  non-energy  "  affecting 
energy  "  very  slightly  "  as  to  imagine  it  affecting 
it  a  good  deal. 

Nor  does  it  help  matters  to  suppose,  with 
Mr.  Carrington  and  other  authorities,  that  Life 
is  a  wholly  distinct  and  unique  kind  of  energy  ; 
an  "  absolutely  separate  force  per  se  different 
from  any  other  mode  of  energy  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge."  If  this  is  so  we  must  ask 
"  How  is  it  that  this  force  combines  sufficient 


VITALITY  AND  WILL  117 

of  the  qualities  common  to  all  the  physical 
forces  to  enable  it  to  affect  them,  with 
characteristics  of  so  different  a  nature  that  we 
can  call  it  an  absolutely  different  force  per  se 
and  emancipate  it  from  the  ordinary  laws  and 
limitations  of  physical  forces  ? 

A  very  similar,  if  not  identical,  dilemma 
arises  in  the  case  of  Will  which  must  either  be 
supposed  to  be  a  purely  physical  force — which 
hypothesis  commits  us  at  once  to  a  creed  of 
thoroughgoing  materialistic  determinism  or 
else  we  must  suppose  it  to  be  distinct  from 
physical  energy  by  virtue  of  some  added  non- 
physical  quality  which  must  be  wholly  outside 
the  physical  realm.  Yet  this  extra  quality 
of  "  conscious  intent "  which  is  the  essential 
characteristic  of  the  act  of  willing  does,  as  a 
matter  of  common  experience,  enable  us  to  control 
physical  matter  and  forces. 

In  fact,  the  whole  trouble  is  simply  this. 

The  universe  presents  a  closed  circle  of  matter 
and  energy.  Anything  within  it  must  be  bound 
by  law,  blind  and  unintelligent.  Nothing  without 
it  can  affect  anything  within  it — if  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  if  it  could  it  would  violate  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  conservation  of  energy. 
But  Will  does  affect  matter,  therefore  it  must 
be  within  the  circle  :  it  is  not  blind,  for  its  very 

I 


n8      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

essence  is  initiative,  independence,  and  intelligence 
and  it  must,  therefore,  be  outside  the  circle. 

Now  let  us  introduce  the  idea  of  higher  space 
and  see  where  it  leads  us. 

Suppose  that  the  energy  which  we  term  "  Life  " 
is  located  to  start  with  in  higher  space— in  four- 
dimensional  space  for  example.  Suppose  that 
it  is  really  pressing  against  the  ' '  dam ' '  of  three- 
dimensional  matter  trying  to  use  it  for  a  vehicle 
of  manifestation.  The  extent  to  which  it  will 
be  able  to  do  so  will  depend  on  the  presence  or 
absence  in  the  matter  concerned  of  those  qualities 
which  enable  it  to  be  acted  on  by  four-dimensional 
forces.  What  these  qualities  are  it  is  at  present 
impossible  to  say  although  one  might  hazard 
a  guess  to  the  effect  that  the  essential  factor  might 
be  one  of  greater  or  less  molecular  extension  in 
the  direction  of  the  fourth  dimension. 

But  wherever  matter  exists  which  possesses 
the  suitable  properties,  there  will  Life  "  squeeze 
through  the  dam  "  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
and  we  shall  have  a  "  living  "  organism  which  will 
continue  to  live  until  the  matter  through  which 
Life  is — in  each  particular  case — manifesting, 
loses  the  properties  which  enable  it  to  be  made 
use  of. 

Whether  there  is  any  sort  of  matter  which  can 
truly  be  called  completely  inanimate  or  whether, 


VITALITY  AND  WILL  119 

as  some  people  hold,  all  matter  is  to  some  extent 
"  alive  "  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  Personally 
I  should  be  sorry  to  have  to  draw  a  distinct 
dividing  line  anywhere  and  it  seems  more  in 
accordance  with  the  general  continuity  ol  things 
to  suppose  that  no  such  line  can  really  be  drawn. 

For  myself  I  tend  more  and  more  to  the  view 
that  Life,  Vitality,  Consciousness — call  it  what 
you  will — is  something  which  dips  down,  as  it 
were,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  experience  and 
of  self-evolution,  from  its  original  location — 
wherever  and  whatever  that  may  be — through 
successive  limitations  of  consciousness  until  it 
reaches  this,  the  lowest,  the  most  restricted 
and  the  most  individual  state  of  all. 

These  successive  limitations  may  conveniently 
be  represented  by  saying  that  consciousness 
functions  in  spaces  of  successively  decreasing 
dimensionality  although  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  as  was  pointed  out  at  the  end  of  the  last 
chapter,  that  this  may  be  only  a  convenient  way 
of  expressing  the  effect  of  a  change  which  belongs 
to  the  consciousness  itself  more  properly  than 
to  its  environment. 

At  each  successive  descent  consciousness  must 
find  a  suitably  organised  vehicle  in  which  to 
function  and  through  which  it  can  receive 
impressions.  But  each  such  vehicle  will  involve 


120      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

corresponding  circumscriptions  and,  conversely, 
each  upward  stage  will  involve  an  extension  of 
consciousness,  until  finally,  when  our  evolution  is 
entirely  accomplished,  we  shall  be  completely  and 
fully  Conscious  and  independent  of  all  limitations 
of  any  sort  or  kind.  On  the  downward  half  of  the 
journey  the  characteristic  process  would,  on  this 
theory,  be  the  gaining  of  individual  at  the  cost 
of  "  communal  "  consciousness,  whereas  during 
the  second  half  the  latter  would  continually 
increase  and  at  last  lead  to  complete 
"  communion "  in  the  widest  possible  sense 
without  any  loss  of  individuality.  This  view, 
which  has  a  good  deal  to  support  it  especially 
in  point  of  continuity  and  general  coherence  with 
other  well  established  ideas,  has  much  in  common 
with  that  held  by  the  Theosophists,  which  is, 
to  my  mind,  the  strongest  plank  in  their  platform. 

But  to  revert  to  the  original  idea  of  Life  as 
primarily  a  four-dimensional  force. 

This  does  not  involve  any  contravention  of  the 
Law  of  the  Conservation  of  energy  for  we  have 
only  to  suppose  that  the  Law  is  exact  only  for 
the  Cosmos  and  for  the  physical  universe,  as 
commonly  understood,  no  more  than  a  very  close 
approximation. 

The  amounts  of  energy  which  we  must  suppose 
to  enter  the  physical  or  three-dimensional  universe 


VITALITY  AND  WILL  121 

from  four-dimensional  space  may  be  very  small, 
so  small  as  to  defy  detection  by  the  methods 
we  are  able  to  apply  to  the  study  of  living 
organisms  in  which  alone  they  could  be  observed; 
and  yet,  by  virtue  of  the  "  hair-trigger  "  theory 
to  which  I  have  already  referred  they  might 
produce  effects  as  large  as  we  please. 

The  foregoing  is  clearly  incomplete,  but  I 
think  I  may  fairly  claim  to  have  removed  the 
fundamental  dilemma  which  first  confronted  us. 

We  have  seen  that  life  may  be  supposed  to 
exist  entirely  apart  from  ordinary  physical  matter 
and  yet  to  affect  it  so  long  as  we  suppose  it  to  do 
so  from  some  region  of  higher  space.  It  is  a 
form  of  energy  if  we  wish  to  call  it  -9^  and  yet 
it  is  distinct  from  the  ordinary  forms  of  physical 
energy  and  free  from  the  limitations  which  would 
be  imposed  upon  it  if  we  reckoned  it  as  subject 
to  the  Law  of  Conservation  as  commonly 
understood. 

And  yet  the  latter  is  not  broken  but  rather 
strengthened ;  for  we  now  suppose  it  to  be  not 
merely  of  Universal  but  of  Cosmic  application. 


CHAPTER    VI 

HIGHER   SPACE   AND   PHYSICAL   SCIENCE. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  I  denned  a  valid  hypothesis 
as  one  which  explained  at  least  some  of  the 
observed  facts  and  did  not  contradict  any  of 
them. 

Since  then  I  have  been  trying  to  show  that 
the  Higher  Space  ideas  do  throw  a  certain  amount 
of  light  on  quite  a  number  of  difficulties  and  enable 
us  to  clear  up  certain  anomalies  and  dilemmas 
which  seem  to  be  insoluble  without  its  aid. 

We  must  now  consider  rather  more  definitely 
than  we  have  hitherto  done  whether  there  is  any 
thing  in  the  hypothesis  to  conflict  with  those 
established  conclusions  of  scientists  which  are 
the  nearest  approach  we  have  to  absolute 
certainties.  I  think  we  shall  find  not  only  that 
there  is  no  such  conflict  but  that  there  are  here 
and  there  distinct  indications  that  the  higher 
space  ideas  may  some  day  find  applications  in 
the  exegesis  of  even  the  most  strictly  physical 
sciences. 

122 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  123 

These  indications  are  admittedly  very 
nebulous  at  present,  it  may  be  that  they 
are  all  illusory  and  as  will  appear  later  they 
cannot  all  lead  to  anything,  for  some  are  mutually 
exclusive. 

I  do  not  propose  to  express  any  very  definite 
opinions  on  their  comparative  values  but  shall 
simply  state  them  and  leave  it  to  my  readers  to 
decide  what  they  are  worth. 

It  must  be  remembered  throughout  that  we 
cannot  expect  to  find  any  very  definite  indications 
of  the  existence  of  higher  space  as  a  reality  for 
the  simple  reason  that  physical  science  is 
concerned  solely  with  those  phenomena  of  matter 
and  force  which  are  "  ex  hypothesi  "  essentially 
three-dimensional. 

It  is  worth  noting  at  the  outset  that  physical 
scientists  have  evinced  no  especial  hostility  to 
the  concept  of  the  fourth  dimension,  as  such, 
however  much  they  may  have  opposed  to  the 
more  definitely  Psychic  researches  which  I, 
personally,  believe  to  be  closely  associated  with 
it. 

Lord  Kelvin,  for  instance,  saw  in  it  nothing 
repugnant  to  scientific  thought  and  professed 
himself  quite  willing  to  adopt  it  should  such  a 
course  seem  to  be  indicated  by  the  evidence. 
Another  distinguished  physicist  has  gone  so  far 


124      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

as  to  evolve  a  theory  of  "  ether  squirts  "  from 
the  direction  of  the  fourth  dimension  in  connection 
with  the  ultimate  constitution  of  matter. 

Again  M.  Poincare"  the  distinguished  French 
Physicist  has  said  "  The  characteristic  property 
of  space,  that  of  having  three  dimensions  is  only 
...  a  property  residing,  so  to  speak,  in  human 
intelligence." 

Mathematical  physicists  also  find  that  certain 
experimental  anomalies  are  resolved  if  they 
refer  phenomena  to  four  interchangeable  axes 
involving  homogeneous  co-ordinates  instead  of 
to  three  space  axes  and  one  time  axis.  If  this 
is  not  dealing  in  four-dimensional  space  it  is 
first  cousin  to  it. 

M.  Poincare  also  pointed  out  that  the  postulates 
of  Euclid  are  not  experimentally  verifiable  facts 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact  much  work  has  been 
done  in  the  elaboration  of  non-Euclidean 
geometries.  This  is  too  mathematical  a  subject 
to  be  dealt  with  in  detail  here,  but  I  can  indicate 
the  general  drift  of  it,  so  far  as  it  is  relevant 
to  the  present  discussion  by  means  of  the  time 
honoured  analogy  of  the  two-dimensional  world. 

Most  of  my  readers  will  know  what  are  meant 
by  the  terms  "  latitude  "  and  "  longitude  "  and 
that  the  lines  of  longitude  are  "  great  circles  " 
which  pass  through  the  poles  and  cut  the  earth's 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  125 

equator  at  right  angles.  It  is  also  a  matter 
of  common  knowledge  that  if  on  a  plane  surface 
two  lines  are  drawn  each  of  which  cuts  another 
line  at  right  angles  these  two  lines  will  be  parallel 
— that  is  to  say  they  will  never  meet  however 
far  they  may  be  produced.  This  holds  good 
provided  that  the  surface  in  which  they  are 
drawn  is  truly  plane — i.e.,  flat.  But  it  breaks 
down,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of  the  "  great  circles  " 
of  longitude,  if  the  lines  are  drawn  on  a  sphere. 
Now  imagine  two-dimensional  beings,  having  no 
conception  of  the  existence  of  a  third  dimension, 
living  on  the  surface  of  a  very  large  sphere. 
They  might  discover  this  principle  about  parallel 
lines  and  all  would  go  well  until  they  began 
making  measurements  over  very  large  distances. 
Then  their  Geometry  would  begin  to  go  wrong. 
They  would  find  that  lines  drawn  in  their  surface 
which  ought  not  to  meet  however  far  produced 
would  begin  to  show  a  tendency  to  do  so.  This 
would  be  an  indication  to  them  that  there  was 
such  a  thing  as  a  third  dimension  of  space  and  that 
their  two-dimensional  world  was  curved  in  this 
third  dimension. 

Now  if  a  two-dimensional  space  can  be  curved 
in  three  dimensions  there  is  no  sort  of  reason 
why  three-dimensional  space  should  not  be 
curved  in  four  and  in  a  precisely  similar  way  three- 


126       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

dimensional  geometry  would,  if  such  were  the 
case,  begin  to  "go  wrong  "  where  very  large 
measurements  were  involved.  Now,  the  largest 
measurements  we  ever  make  are  astronomical 
measurements  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  according 
to  Mr.  Bragdon,  there  does  seem  to  be  a  tendency 
for  Geometry  to  go  wrong  in  certain  cases.  He 
says  that  the  number  of  negative  parallaxes  of 
stars  is  larger  than  would  be  expected  having 
regard  to  the  probable  experimental  errors. 
The  parallax  of  an  object  is  the  angle  which  it 
subtends  at  two  different  points  of  observation, 
and  so  long  as  it  is  at  a  finite  distance  from  these 
two  points — which  in  the  case  of  a  star  are  the 
two  opposite  ends  of  the  earth's  orbit — this 
angle  must  be  positive.  That  is  to  say  the  lines 
drawn  in  the  observed  direction  of  the  star  from 
the  two  points  must  converge. 

If,  as  in  certain  cases  seems  to  happen,  they 
diverge,  then  one  of  three  things  must  be  the 
case ;  either  the  observations  are  wrong  or  else 
light  does  not,  as  is  commonly  believed,  travel 
in  straight  lines  (for  after  all  what  we  call  a  straight 
line  in  astronomy  is  only  the  path  of  a  ray  of 
light)  or  else  our  geometry  is  breaking  down 
and  we  must  suppose  that  our  space  is  curved, 
which  would  necessitate  the  acceptance  of  the 
existence  of  a  fourth  dimension. 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  127 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  explanation  of 
negative  parallaxes  is  more  likely  to  be  found 
in  one  or  both  of  the  two  first  alternatives  than  in 
the  third. 

Mr.  Hinton  has  a  good  deal  to  say  in  his  books 
about  various  four  -  dimensional  theories  of 
electricity  involving  four  -  dimensional  vortices. 
These  are  highly  ingenious  but  there  does  not 
seem  to  be  any  considerable  reason  for  supposing 
them  to  be  anything  more  and  I  shall  therefore 
not  describe  them  here.  Two  of  his  ideas  however 
are  so  striking,  although  for  different  reasons, 
that  I  think  a  brief  outline  will  not  be  out  of 
place. 

In  his  book  "  A  new  Era  of  Thought "  he  points 
out  the  remarkable  analogy  which  exists  between 
the  properties  of  ether  as  postulated  by  physicists 
and  those  which  a  perfectly  smooth  solid  sheet 
would  present  to  the  intelligence  of  two- 
dimensional  beings  living  on  it. 

The  hypothesis  of  the  ether  was  introduced 
to  account  for  the  transmission  of  light,  heat, 
electricity,  and  so  forth,  and  has  proved  of  the 
utmost  service  to  physicists.  Most  of  my  readers 
are  probably  acquainted  with  the  general  idea 
and  I  need  not  therefore  discuss  it  in  detail. 

It  will  be  sufficient  here  to  say  that  it  is 
supposed  to  be  a  weightless,  homogeneous  medium 


iz8       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

extending  throughout  all  space  and  permeating 
all  bodies.  Indeed  Matter  itself  is  supposed  to 
be  no  more  than  the  result  of  more  or  less  complex 
disturbances  in  it. 

But  although  it  accounts  for  the  phenomena 
in  connection  with  which  it  was  called  into 
being  it  is  necessary  to  ascribe  to  it  very 
contradictory  properties.  On  the  one  hand  it 
has  been  calculated  that  in  order  for  it  to  transmit 
the  forces  which  we  know  that  it  does  transmit, 
for  instance  the  force  of  gravitation,  it  must 
possess  a  rigidity  some  3,000  times  greater  than 
that  of  the  strongest  known  steel.  On  the  other 
hand  we  must  suppose  it  to  be  of  a  tenuity  far  in 
excess  of  the  most  perfect  vacuum  which  we  can 
obtain,  for  otherwise  the  earth  and  other  planets 
which  are  moving  at  immense  speed  through 
this  medium  would  be  slowed  down  ;  which  is 
not  in  practice  the  case. 

Now  Hinton  points  out  that  to  a  two- 
dimensional  being ,  a  perfectly  smooth  solid  sheet  on 
the  surface  of  which  he  lived  would  possess  many 
of  these  properties.  Being  perfectly  smooth 
it  would  be  imperceptible  to  him  and  would  offer 
no  opposition  to  the  passage  of  bodies  over  it. 
Yet  it  could,  being  solid,  transmit  vibration  just 
as  we  know  the  ether  does  for  us.  Also  it  could 
be  as  rigid  as  you  please  without  losing  any  of 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  129 

its  imperceptibility.  It  could  not  be  weighed 
and  it  could  not  be  eliminated  from  any  vessel 
no  matter  what  care  was  taken  to  do  so. 

The  analogy  is  striking  but  it  does  not  appeal 
to  me  and  I  do  not  think  that  even  Mr.  Hinton 
means  it  to  be  taken  strictly,  for  in  other  passages 
he  gives  quite  different  suggestions  as  to  the  ether. 

One  of  the  latter  is  derived  from  a  consideration 
of  the  phenomena  of  rotation  in  four-dimensional 
space  and  is  of  some  intrinsic  interest. 

In  two-space  rotation  takes  place  about  a  point, 
in  three  space  about  a  line  and  we  should  therefore 
expect  that  in  four  space  it  would  do  so  about  a 
plane.  This  is  easily  shown  to  be  the  case 
although  I  do  not  propose  to  go  into  the  proof 
here.  The  only  important  point  is  that  whereas 
it  is  impossible  to  conceive  a  mass  of  three- 
dimensional  spheres  in  a  state  of  continuous 
rotation, — because  they  would  be  trying  to  drive 
each  other  in  different  directions  and  so  would 
prevent  the  rotation, — in  four  dimensions  this 
is  not  the  case  and  a  mass  of  "  hyper-spheres  " 
could  be  "  self -driving,"  that  is  to  say  the  rotation 
of  each  could  be  such  as  to  assist  and  not  to 
retard  that  of  its  neighbours.  This  fact  is  of 
interest  because  Lord  Kelvin  showed  that  the 
contradictory  properties  of  the  ether  referred  to 
above  could  only  be  reconciled  by  supposing  it 


130      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

to  be  animated  throughout  by  a  motion  of  a 
vortical  character. 

This  "  self-driving  "  effect  of  rotating  hyper- 
spheres  is  worth  glancing  at  a  little  more  closely. 
It  arises  from  the  fact  that  there  are  two  distinct 
sorts  of  rotation  which  such  a  sphere  may  possess. 
In  three-dimensional  rotation  the  •motion  may 
take  place  about  any  axis  we  please  and  the  other 
two  axes  which  can  be  drawn  will  change  one 
into  the  other,  so  to  speak,  as  the  rotation  takes 
place.  But  in  four-dimensional  space  we  have 
four  axes  and  while  the  X  and  Y  axes  change 
place,  say,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  W  and 
Z  axes  doing  so  too.  Thus  we  might  have 
the  X  axis  changing  into  the  Y  and  the  W  into 
the  Z.  To  reverse  both  of  these  motions  so  as 
to  have  the  Y  axis  changing  into' the  X  and  the 
Z  into  the  W  does  not  give  us  a  new  kind  of 
motion  any  more  than  reversing  the  direction  of 
an  ordinary  three  -  dimensional  rotation  does 
— it  is  only  equivalent  to  looking  at  it  from  a 
different  point  of  view.  But  if  in  the  case 
of  the  four-dimensional  rotation  we  reverse  one 
only  of  the  two  rotational  components  we  do  get 
a  new  kind  of  motion,  and  this  is  of  interest  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  electricity  like  other  forces 
is  regarded  as  a  mode  of  etheric  motion,  and  if 
this  be  so  there  would  seem  to  be  a  certain  need 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE 


for  two  distinct  kinds  of  it  in  order  to  correspond 
to  positive  and  negative  electricity  respectively. 
It  is  just  possible  that  there  is  some  connection, 
as  Mr.  Hinton  suggests,  between  this  need  and  the 
two  kinds  of  four-dimensional  rotation  referred 
to  above. 


Most  writers  on  the  subject  of  higher  space 
make  great  play  with  the  phenomena  of  symmetry 
and  adduce  its  occurrence  in  nature  as  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  a  fourth  dimension.  This  view 
is  not  warranted  by  the  facts  and  I  shall  therefore 
touch  on  it  only  very  briefly. 

The  point  arises  in  the  following  way.     Consider 

the  two  tri- 
angles ABC 
and  DEF  in 
Fig.  9.  If 
these  were  cut 
out  and  laid 
on  a  smooth 
surface  ex- 
actly as  shown, 

no  amount  of  sliding  about  would  enable  us  to 
fit  one  exactly  over  the  other.  In  order  to  do 
this  it  would  be  necessary  to  pick  one  up  out 
of  the  plane  of  the  paper  and  turn  it  over.  In 
a  precisely  similar  manner  two  asymmetrical 


B 


C    F 


132      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

three-dimensional  objects  such  as  a  right  and 
left  hand,  each  of  which  is  the  mirror  image 
of  the  other,  could  not  be  made  to  coincide 
unless  one  of  them  were  to  be  turned  over  in 
four  -  dimensional  space.  The  point  made  by 
Mr.  Hinton  and  other  writers  who  attach  import- 
ance to  the  phenomena  of  symmetry,  is  that  there 
seems  to  be  a  general  tendency  in  nature  towards 
a  right  and  left  handed  symmetry  in  which  the 
whole  organism  is  symmetrical  about  a  central 
plane,  each  half  being  the  mirror  image  of  the 
other  and  that  this  symmetry  is  unlikely  to 
have  arisen  through  equal  increments  on  either 
side  of  the  central  plane.  They  suppose  as  an 
alternative  that  "  the  ultimate  elements  of  living 
matter  "  are  not  right  and  left  handed  ab  initio, 
but  become  so  by  virtue  of  some  of  them  being 
"folded  over "  in  four-dimensional  space. 

This  view  seems  to  me  to  lack  foundation 
especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  work 
of  Le  Bel  and  Van't  Hoff  fully  cleared  up  the 
analogous  phenomena  in  the  case  of  crystals 
without  introducing  the  concept  of  higher  space 
at  all.  In  general  therefore  I  agree  with  Schubert 
who  says  : — 

"...  the  only  inference  we  can  here  make 
is  that  the  idea  of  a  four  -  dimensioned  space 
is  competent,  from  a  mathematical  point  of 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  133 

view,  to  throw  some  light  on  the  phenomena 

of  symmetry." 

(Mathematical  Essays,  p.  91.) 
None  the  less  Bragdon  is  right  in  his  contention 
that  "  Could  it  be  shown  that  the  two-dimensional 
symmetry  in  nature  is  the  result  of  a  three 
dimensional  movement,  the  right  and  left-handed 
symmetry  of  solids  would  by  analogy  be  the 
result  of  a  four-dimensional  movement." 

I  need  hardly  say  that  if  we  could  experi- 
mentally obtain  the  changing  of  an  asymmetrical 
right-handed  object  into  the  corresponding  left- 
handed  one  it  would  be  of  the  very  first  importance 
as  a  proof  of  the  reality  of  higher  space. 

Far  more  important  than  any  of  the  foregoing, 
however,  are  the  considerations  arising  from  what 
is  known  as  the  Principle  of  Relativity.  This 
subject,  which  has  received  much  attention  at 
the  hands  of  mathematical  physicists  in  recent 
years,  is  far  too  abstruse  to  be  dealt  with  in  detail 
here  and  a  partial  and  popularised  account  would 
almost  certainly  fail  to  satisfy  those  who  are  not 
wholly  ignorant  of  mathematical  physics  and 
would  weary  those  who  are.  I  propose,  therefore, 
to  dismiss  it  in  very  few  words  in  spite  of  its  great 
importance  and  relevance. 

"  The  Principle  of  Relativity  is  the  hypothesis 
that  it  is  impossible  by  means  of  physical  experi- 

K 


134      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

ments  to  determine  the  absolute  velocity  of  a  body 
through  space."  (Cunningham  "  Relativity  and 
the  Electron  Theory,"  p.  2). 

We  cannot,  for  example,  determine  the  velocity 
of  the  earth  relative  to  the  ether. 

This  is  of  importance  when  we  are  dealing 
with  the  idea  of  "  simultaneity  "  — an  idea  which, 
as  we  saw  in  Chapter  IV.  is  closely  associated 
with  our  notion  of  Time.  For  our  criterion 
of  simultaneity  has  in  practice  been  based  on 
optical  communication.  (Cp.  Ibid,  pp.  5  and  28). 
But  it  is  easy  to  show  that  "  the  setting  up  of 
a  standard  of  simultaneity  by  means  of  light 
signals  is  not  possible  until  a  definite  velocity 
is  assigned  to  the  observer.  Thus  the  hypothesis 
of  relativity  requires  a  reconsideration  of  the  way 
in  which  we  measure  time."  (Ibid,  pp.  5,  28,  29). 

"  This  again  reacts  on  the  measurement  of  the 
length  of  a  material  body,  the  '  distance  between 
two  points  '  being  the  distance  between  simul- 
taneous positions  of  those  points.  Thus  it 
becomes  necessary  also  to  examine  the  way  in 
which  we  measure  space.  It  becomes  impossible 
to  consider  space  and  time  separately  ;  the  two 
measures  are  interrelated  to  such  an  extent  that 
Minkowski  felt  himself  constrained  to  say  that 
'  from  henceforth  time  by  itself  and  space  by  itself 
are  mere  shadows,  that  they  are  only  two  aspects 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  135 

of  a  single  and  indivisible  manner  of  co-ordinating 
the  facts  of  the  physical  world.' '      (Ibid,  pp. 
5  and  6.) 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Principle  of 
Relativity  is  firmly  established  in  scientific 
thought  it  will  be  realised  that  this  conclusion 
arrived  at  as  a  result  of  purely  physical  considera- 
tions is  of  the  very  utmost  importance  as  a,n 
independent  confirmation  of  the  general  line  of 
thought  developed  in  the  preceding  pages. 

I  therefore  feel  it  legitimate  to  claim  that 
in  so  far  as  physical  science  throws  any  light 
on  the  subject  at  all  its  testimony  is  distinctly 
favourable. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   CONNECTING   LINK 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  I  have  tried  to  show 
that  there  are,  scattered  here  and  there  over  the 
field  of  Psychic  Research,  sufficient  indications 
to  warrant  our  adopting,  as  a  tentative  working 
hypothesis,  the  idea  that  four-dimensional  space 
is  a  reality  and  that  the  Individual  consciousness 
is  capable  of  functioning  in  a  four-dimensional 
vehicle  quite  apart  from  the  three-dimensional 
physical  body. 

I  hope  that  I  have  made  it  quite  clear  that  in 
my  opinion  the  two  vehicles  are  entirely  separate 
and  independent,  and  that  I  do  not  regard  the 
three-dimensional  body  as  being  a  mere  section 
of  a  four-dimensional  whole. 

I  propose  in  this  chapter  to  consider  in  some 
detail  the  question  of  the  nature  of  the  connection 
which  must  perforce  exist  between  the  two 
vehicles. 

We  know  that  there  must  be  some  form  of 
connection  because  impressions  which  are  received 
136 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  137 

by  the  three-dimensional  sense  organs  are  trans- 
mitted to  the  conscious  Ego,  which  is,  ex  hypothesi, 
embodied  in  the  four-dimensional  vehicle. 

Furthermore  it  is  clear  that  the  connection 
can  be  interrupted  with  comparative  ease,  since 
in  sleep,  anaesthesia,  and  analogous  conditions, 
the  conscious  Ego  does  not  receive  these 
impressions  although  the  sense  organs  may  still 
be  subject  to  stimuli  to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

We  are  not,  of  course,  able  to  draw  detailed 
conckisions  as  to  the  precise  nature  of  this 
connection  by  the  exercise  of  pure  deductive 
reason. 

But  I  think  that  my  readers  will  agree  with  me 
that  the  first  and  most  obvious  place  to  look  for 
it  will  be  in  the  realm  of  the  nervous  system. 

Further  we  may  safely  say  that,  assuming  the 
hypothesis  we  are  considering  to  be  correct, 
the  sense  impression  must,  at  some  stage  in  its 
transmission,  be  deflected,  so  to  speak,  out 
of  three  space  into  four  space. 

In  order  for  this  to  happen  it  is  necessary  that 
some  part  of  the  transmitting  mechanism  should 
be  capable  of  producing  this  deflection  and  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  a  substance  or 
mechanism  specially  differentiated  for  the 
purpose  of  deflecting  impressions  in  this  manner 
out  of  three  space  into  four  space,  will  be 


138      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

distinguished  by  an  abnormal  four  -  dimensional 
complexity  as  compared  with  ordinary  matter, 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  probably 
possesses  a  very  slight  four-dimensional  extension. 

As  a  result  of  this  abnormal  four-dimensional 
complexity  it  is  to  be  anticipated  that  the  part 
of  the  transmitting  mechanism  concerned  will 
possess  characteristics  sufficient  to  differentiate 
it  from  ordinary  matter. 

I  submit,  then,  that  we  may  reasonably  deduce 
that  if  the  four-dimensional  hypothesis  which 

I  have  outlined  be  correct,  there  should  exist, 
either  as  an  integral  part  of  the  nervous  system 
or  in  close  association  with  it,  some  constituent 
or  substance  which,  in  spite  of  having  many  of 
the    properties    of    ordinary    matter,    will    also 
possess  characteristics  peculiar  to  itself — as,  for 
instance,  susceptibility  to  four-dimensional  forces 
imperceptible  to  us. 

At  this  point  I  would  recall  to  the  reader's 
attention  the  remarks  which  I  made  in  Chapter 

II  regarding  the  processes  of  scientific  thought 
and  the  sequence  of  operations  whereby  we  attain 
to  exact  knowledge. 

So  far  we  have  considered  a  number  of  observed 
facts  and  framed  a  working  hypothesis  which, 
I  believe,  explains  some,  and  is  not  contradicted 
by  any,  of  them. 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  139 

In  the  immediately  preceding  paragraphs  we 
have,  by  deductive  reasoning,  concluded  that  if 
this  hypothesis  be  correct  then  something  else 
must  follow.  There  must,  in  fact,  be  some 
sort  of  connecting  link  whereby  sense  impressions 
are  deflected  out  of  three  space  into  four  space 
and  are  thus  enabled  to  get  through  to  the 
consciousness. 

We  have  also  concluded  that  this  connecting 
link  is  likely  to  consist  of  matter  in  some  curious 
condition  such  as  to  invest  it  with  properties 
unlike  those  of  ordinary  matter.  If  on  turning 
again  to  the  realm  of  observation,  we  find  that 
this  deduction  is  substantiated  in  practice,  we 
shall  receive  distinct  confirmation  of  the 
correctness  of  our  working  hypothesis. 

In  the  pages  which  follow  I  propose  to  show 
that  there  are  a  number  of  facts  which  strongly 
indicate,  even  if  they  cannot  at  present  be  held 
conclusively  to  demonstrate,  the  existence  of  some 
such  connecting  link. 

I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  numerous  gaps 
in  the  body  of  evidence  which  I  shall  bring  forward 
on  this  subject.  To  some  of  these  I  shall  draw 
specific  attention  in  the  hope  that  by  doing 
so  I  may  induce  some  of  my  readers  to  experiment 
on  the  points  in  question.  There  is  an  enormous 
amount  of  research  work  to  be  done  before  we 


140 

shall  be  able  to  have  any  considerable  confidence 
in  our  speculations  or  to  feel  that  we  are  working 
on  anything  like  a  firm  foundation.  Much  of 
the  evidence  to  which  I  shall  refer  in  this  chapter 
is  in  urgent  need  of  confirmation  and  there  is 
very  little  indeed  which  I  should  care  to  guarantee 
personally.  Still  the  indications,  slight  though 
they  are,  do  seem  to  point  rather  in  the  same 
direction  and  as  my  object  is  to  stimulate 
investigation  and,  perhaps  to  indicate  some  of 
the  lines  on  which  it  may  profitably  proceed 
rather  than  to  lay  down  the  law  on  obscure 
points,  I  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  deal  with 
them  fairly  fully. 

Historically  the  first  relevant  experiments  were 
probably  those  of  Reichenbach  in  the  middle  of 
last  century.  But  so  little  was  known  in  those 
days  about  a  variety  of  factors  which  might 
have  vitiated  his  results,  and  his  work  has  been 
so  strongly  criticised  by  later  authorities  that  I 
will  not  do  more  than  mention  him  for  the 
benefit  of  any  reader  who  may  have  a  fancy  for 
probing  into  the  historical  origins  of  the  subject. 
None  the  less  great  credit  is  due  to  Reichenbach 
for  the  thorough  and  painstaking  character  of 
his  researches  to  which  he  brought  immense 
industry  and  a  truly  scientific  spirit  which  led 
him  to  fantastic  and  erroneous  conclusions  only 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  141 

because  he  had  not  our  present  knowledge  to 
guard  him  from  the  many  pitfalls  which  abound 
in  these  investigations. 

The  first  phenomena  to  which  I  wish  to  call  atten- 
tion is  that  known  as  Exteriorisation  of  Sensibility. 

This  has  been  investigated  by  de  Rochas  and 
later  by  Joire  and  by  Boirac,  and  I  believe  it  is 
well  established. 

The  gist  of  the  phenomenon  is  that  in  certain 
hypnotic  states  the  skin  of  the  subject  becomes 
insensitive  to  pain  but  the  "  sensibility "  is 
transferred  to  a  sensitive  layer  a  few  centimetres 
distant  from  the  skin.  Pinching  or  pricking 
the  skin  itself  produces  no  effect  but  doing  so 
in  the  region  of  the  sensitive  layer  arouses  the 
appropriate  sensation  in  the  subject.  Further- 
more, according  to  Joire,  this  sensibility  can  be 
localised  and  transferred  to  various  objects — 
a  fact  which  gives  the  investigator  a  most  desirable 
power  of  experimental  control. 

Dr.  Joire  performed  a  number  of  experiments 
to  determine  whether  the  results  could  be 
attributed  to  auto-suggestion,  to  unconscious 
suggestion  by  the  investigator  or  to  unconscious 
connivance  on  the  part  of  the  subject,  but 
concluded  that  they  could  not.  Any  reader  who 
has  doubts  on  the  subject  should  read  his  book 
"  Psychical  and  Supernormal  Phenomena."  Dr. 


142       THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

Joire  was  unable  to  give  any  explanation  of 
these  phenomena,  nor  shall  I  attempt  to  do  so 
at  the  moment  beyond  pointing  out  that  on  the 
face  of  it,  it  looks  as  if  some  definite  substance 
of  sensitive  properties  were  exteriorised  which, 
however,  must  be  supposed  to  be  to  some  extent 
under  the  control  of  the  will,  since  it  was  found 
that  the  seat  of  sensibility  could  be  shifted  at  the 
word  of  command. 

Leaving  this  for  a  moment  I  would  draw 
attention  to  the  subject  of  the  "  aura."  Certain 
persons  claim  to  be  able  to  see  this  normally 
as  a  regular  thing  and  describe  it  as  being  a 
bluish-grey  haze  surrounding  the  body  and  at  a 
little  distance  from  it.  Dr.  Kilner  in  his  book 
"  The  Human  Atmosphere "  describes  how  he 
found  it  possible  to  induce  this  power  of  vision 
in  normal  persons  by  causing  them  to  gaze  at 
the  light  through  suitably  coloured  screens  which 
seemed  to  affect  the  retina  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  it  more  sensitive  to  the  particular  wave 
length  of  light  which  emanates  from,  or  is  reflected 
by,  the  aura. 

In  the  course  of  his  investigations  he  found 
among  other  things  that  the  aura  was  apparently 
under  the  control  of  the  will  since  it  could  in 
certain  cases  be  made  to  change  colour  or  to 
extrude  rays  by  mere  volition. 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  143 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Kilner  I  have 
myself  been  able  to  try  the  effect  of  the  screens 
and  I  certainly  saw,  or  thought  I  saw,  an  aura 
of  the  type  which  he  describes. 

At  the  same  time  I  am  not  altogether  prepared 
to  swear  that  the  appearance  could  not  be  some 
sort  of  optical  illusion  or  "  artifact  "  and  I  should 
accept  the  aura  with  less  reserve  if  it  could  be 
recorded  photographically. 

On  the  other  hand  some  of  Dr.  Kilner's  experi- 
ments, notably  as  regards  colour  of  the  aura 
and  its  uses  in  diagnosis,  are  very  remarkable 
and  seem  unlikely  to  be  due  to  either  of  the 
above  mentioned  causes. 

If  we  accept  these  experiments  at  their  face 
value  they  certainly  support  the  idea  to  which 
the  phenomena  of  Exteriorisation  of  Sensibility 
faintly  pointed,  namely  that  there  may  be  some 
exteriorisable  substance  under  the  control  of  the 
Will. 

There  are  other  experiments  which  also  point 
the  same  way.  Consider  for  example  those  of 
MacDougal  who  weighed  a  number  of  patients 
at  the  moment  of  death  and  found  in  each  case 
that  this  coincided  with  a  sudden  loss  of  weight 
of  about  threequarters  of  an  ounce,  more  than 
could  be  accounted  for  by  loss  from  perspiration 
or  from  the  emptying  of  the  lungs.  He  claims 


144      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

that  "  We  have  experimental  proof  that  a 
substance  capable  of  being  weighed  does  leave 
the  body  at  death."  It  is  of  course  most 
important  that  these  experiments  should  be 
confirmed  by  independent  investigators  but  there 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  the  facts  as  stated, 
although  I  cannot  agree  with  MacDougal's  view 
that  what  leaves  the  body  is  the  "  soul." 

Dr.  Baraduc,  again,  took  photographs  of  his  son 
and  wife  shortly  after  death  and  found  that  in 
each  case  a  luminous,  cloudlike  mass  or  masses 
were  visible  over  the  bodies. 

This  case  is  of  exceptional  interest  in  that  the 
observations  were  not  personal  but  were  photo- 
graphic records.  Unless  the  case  is  inaccurately 
reported  it  follows  that  there  must  have  been 
some  objective  foundation  for  the  results,  and  it 
would  also  seem  that,  since  the  object  photo- 
graphed affected  the  plate  but  was  invisible 
to  the  eye,  it  must  not  only  have  been  material 
or  quasi-material  in  nature  but  also  have  emitted 
light  of  a  frequency  above  the  range  of  normal 
vision,  i.e.,  "  ultra-violet "  light.  Here  again 
there  is  great  need  for  confirmation  but  so  far  as  it 
goes  the  evidence  continues  to  point  the  same  way. 

Surely  this  concatenation  of  evidences  from  such 
different  sources  cannot  be  purely  fortuitous  ? 

The   foregoing   are  the   most   important   and 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  145 

representative  experiments  on  these  lines  but 
the  whole  of  the  literature  of  Psychic  Research 
abounds  with  minor  pointers  which  all  indicate 
the  same  sort  of  thing. 

Let  us  turn  again  to  the  work  of  Crawford, 
to  which  I  have  already  referred. 

He  started  out  to  investigate  the  causes  of 
telekinetic  phenomena  and  had  at  the  outset 
no  sort  of  notion  of  what  the  explanation  was 
likely  to  be  and  he  found  that  his  table  is 
supported,  during  levitation  without  contact, 
by  a  rigid  structure. 

This  structure  is  invisible  to  the  eye  and  is 
practically  impalpable.  It  appears  vto  be 
composed  of  matter  taken  from  the  medium. 
The  main  conclusion  is,  I  think,  inevitable,  but 
for  the  experiments  and  reasoning  which  have  led 
to  it  the  reader  must  consult  Dr.  Crawford's  book. 

Again  we  have  this  same  curious  substance 
exteriorised  from  the  body. 

But  there  are  two  points  in  particular  which  bring 
it  closely  into  line  with  the  phenomena  which 
we  have  been  considering. 

The  first  is  that  although  Dr.  Crawford  has  not 
yet  succeeded  in  photographing  the  structure 
in  situ,  he  has  obtained  a  photograph  of  what 
appears  to  be  the  same  substance  issuing  out 
of  the  medium. 


146      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

Furthermore,  the  existence  of  the  structure 
has  been  confirmed  by  clairvoyants,  and  this 
fact,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  photographic 
results  and  with  what  I  said  about  "  etheric  " 
or  "  ultra-violet  "  clairvoyance  in  Chapter  III, 
forces  us  once  more  to  the  conclusion  that  this 
elusive  substance  possesses  the  property  of 
emitting  or  reflecting  ultra-violet  light. 

The  second  point  is  that  the  extrusion  of  this 
substance  from  the  medium  results  in  superficial 
insensibility,  although  she  is  in  full  possession 
of  all  her  normal  faculties. 

Dr.  Crawford  discusses  this  point  at  some  length 
in  an  article  which  appeared  in  the  Psychic 
Gazette  for  September  1916.  Into  the  minutiae 
of  the  discussion  I  need  not  enter  here.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  the  medium  is  to  'some 
extent  insensitive  and  that  in  Dr.  Crawford's 
opinion  "  It  seems  likely  that  the  want  of 
sensibility  to  heavy  and  varied  reactions  which 
undoubtedly  occur  upon  the  medium  is  due  to 
some  peculiar  condition  of  her  organism  during 
the  period  of  phenomena." 

Now,  these  various  experiments  although  they 
may  be  individually  weak  do  seem  rather  to  hang 
together.  There  is  an  appearance  of  possible 
connection  between  the  experiments  of  Joire 
and  recent  views  on  the  "  aura  "  ;  and  it  is 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  147 

possible  that  what  MacDougal  weighed  and 
Baraduc  photographed  are  the  same  thing. 

It  is  obvious  that  all  these  experiments  ought 
to  be  checked  and  re-checked  by  independent 
investigators  and  further  experiments  under- 
taken to  discover  whether  there  is  any  real 
connection  between  them. 

But  for  the  present  purpose  I  think  it  legitimate 
to  extrapolate  and  to  assume  that  they  are 
reliable  and  connected  in  the  way  that  I  suspect. 

The  experiments  of  de  Rochas,  of  Joire  and  of 
Kilner  suggest  that  a  temporary  loss  of  sensibility 
is  accompanied  by  the  extrusion  from  the  body 
of  a  sensitive  substance  of  peculiar  properties. 

In  the  Baraduc  and  MacDougal  experiments 
a  total  and  permanent  loss  of  sensibility  seems  to 
be  accompanied  by  the  extrusion  of  a  substance 
of  somewhat  similar  properties. 

Finally  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Crawford's  researches 
we  find  that  the  extrusion  of  an  apparently  very 
similar  substance  is  again  accompanied  by  a 
certain  insensitivity. 

Somewhat  similar  conditions  are  to  be  found 
in  cases  of  "  materialisation " — compare,  for 
example,  the  work  of  Dr.  Schrenk-Notzing  and 
Mme.  Bisson  or  Dr.  Geley's  paper  in  Part  I.  of 
the  "  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques "  for 
1919. 


148      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

It  is  far  too  early  yet  to  say  that  the  extrusion 
of  this  sensitive  substance  is  an  invariable 
concomitant  of  insensibility ;  but  at  present  the 
evidence — assuming  it  to  be  reliable — does  seem 
to  point  that  way.  When  we  have  made  an 
exhaustive  study  of  what  happens  to  the  "  aura  " 
during  sleep,  in  various  states  of  hypnosis,  in  local 
and  general  anaesthesia  and  in  death  we  shall  be  able 
to  draw  more  definite  conclusions  on  the  subject. 

I  shall  now  turn  to  evidence  of  a  more  general 
type  which  deals  with  the  existence  of  this 
mysterious  substance  viewed  as  a  whole  rather 
than  with  this  or  that  indication  of  its  presence 
or  properties  as  did  the  previous  experiments. 

There  are  many  references  in  Psychic  literature 
which  bear  on  the  point  and  the  general  trend 
of  them  seems  to  be  that  the  substance  we  have 
been  considering  is  not,  normally,  entirely 
formless  and  distributed  fortuitously  through 
the  body  but  that  it  forms  an  exact  counterpart 
of  the  latter  or,  to  be  more  strictly  accurate, 
of  the  nervous  system. 

Lombroso  states  that  Durville  has  succeeded 
in  separating  this  "  replica  "  experimentally  from 
the  physical  body. 

("  After  Death— What  ?  "). 

He  says  that  it  seemed  to  be  connected  with 
the  body  by  a  sort  of  cord  and  that  the  patient 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  149 

under  observation  was  able  to  see  through  opaque 
objects  and  to  discern  events  at  a  distance. 
The  apparent  sense  organs  of  the  replica  worked, 
while  those  of  the  physical  body  were  put  out  of 
action.  When  approached,  it  excited  a  sensation 
"  like  that  produced  by  cold,  by  blowing  air, 
by  shivering,"  and  if  the  hand  were  placed  in 
it  a  cold,  clammy  sensation  was  experienced. 
Compare  with  this  last  statement  the  remarks 
of  Crawford  on  the  sensations  produced  by 
inserting  the  hand  into  the  midst  of  the  levitating 
structure. 

M.  Leon  Denis  in  "  Christianity  and 
Spiritualism "  quotes  experiments  from  the 
"  Revue  Spirite "  for  November  1894,  and 
alleges  that  de  Rochas  and  Barlemont  obtained 
simultaneous  photographs  of  the  body  of  a 
medium  and  of  the  exteriorised  "  double." 

A  long  account  of  experiments  on  these  lines 
by  Durville  appears  in  the  "Journal  de 
Magnetisme  "  for  1907  and  1908  but  although 
they  tend  to  confirm  the  ideas  at  which  we 
have  already  arrived,  there  is  nothing  to  be 
gained  by  going  into  their  details  here. 

A  very  interesting  case  which  has  a  considerable 
bearing  on  the  subject  is  given  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  Vol.  VIII, 
pp.  180-193. 


The  following  is  an  abbreviated  account : 
The  narrator  is  a  physician  and  the  case  seems 
to  have  been  singularly  well  attested  and  was 
carefully   scrutinised   by   no   less   a   critic   than 
Dr.  R.  H.  Hodgson. 

"  I  passed  some  four  hours  in  all  without 
pulse  or  perceptible  heart  beat,  as  I  am  informed 
by  Dr.  S.  H.  Raynes,  who  was  the  only  physician 
present.  During  a  portion  of  this  time  several 
of  the  bystanders  thought  I  was  dead,  and, 
such  a  report  being  carried  outside,  the  village 
church  bell  was  tolled.  Dr.  Raynes  informs 
me,  however,  that  by  bringing  his  eyes  close 
to  my  face,  he  could  perceive  an  occasional 
short  gasp,  so-very  light  as  to  be  hardly  percept- 
ible, and  that  he  was  several  times  on  the  point 
of  saying,  '  He  is  dead/  when  a  gasp  would 
occur  in  time  to  check  him.  He  thrust  a  needle 
deep  into  the  flesh  at  different  poin^  from  the 
feet  to  the  hips,  but  got  no  response.* 
Although  I  was  pulseless  for  four  hours,  the 
state  of  apparent  death  lasted  only  about 
half  an  hour.  I  lost,  I  believe,  all  power 
of  thought  or  knowledge  of  existence  in  absolute 
unconsciousness.  I  came  again  into  a  state 
of  conscious  existence,  and  discovered  that 
I  was  still  in  the  body,  but  the  body  and  I  had 

*  Note  the  insensibility.—  W.  W.  S. 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  151 

no  longer  any  interests  in  common.  I  looked 
with  astonishment  and  joy  for  the  first  time 
upon  myself — the  me,  the  real  Ego,  while  the 
not-me  closed  upon  all  sides  like  a  sepulchre 
of  clay.  With  all  the  interest  of  a  physician 
I  beheld  the  wonders  of  my  bodily  anatomy, 
intimately  interwoven  with  which,  even  tissue 
for  tissue,  was  I,  the  living  soul  of  that  dead 
body.  I  realised  my  condition  and  calmly 
reasoned  thus  :  I  have  died,  as  man  terms 
death,  and  yet  I  am  as  much  a  man  as  ever. 
I  am  about  to  get  out  of  the  body.  I  watched 
the  interesting  process  of  the  separation  of  soul 
and  body.  By  some  power,  apparently  not 
my  own,  the  Ego  was  rocked  to  and  fro,  laterally 
as  the  cradle  is  rocked,  by  which  process  its 
connection  with  the  tissues  of  the  body  was 
broken  up.  After  a  little  while  the  lateral 
motions  ceased,  and  along  the  soles  of  the  feet, 
beginning  at  the  toes,  passing  rapidly  to  the 
heels,  I  felt  and  heard,  as  it  seemed  the 
snapping  of  innumerable  small  cords.  When 
this  was  accomplished,  I  began  slowly  to  retreat 
from  the  feet,  toward  the  head,  as  a  rubber 
cord  shortens.  I  remember  reaching  the  hips 
and  saying  to  myself,  '  Now  there  is  no  life 
below  the  hips.'  I  can  recall  no  memory 
of  passing  through  the  abdomen  and  chest, 


152      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

but  recollect  distinctly  when  my  whole  self 
was  collected  in  the  head,  when  I  reflected 
thus  :  '  I  am  all  the  head  now,  and  I  shall 
soon  be  free.'  I  passed  around  the  brain  as 
if  it  were  hollow,  compressing  it  and  its 
membranes  slightly  on  all  sides  towards  the 
centre,  and  peeped  out  between  the  sutures 
of  the  skull,  emerging  like  the  flattened  edges 
of  a  bag  of  membranes  !  I  recollect  distinctly 
how  I  appeared  to  myself  something  like  a 
jelly  fish  as  regards  colour  and  form  !  As  I 
emerged,  I  saw  two  ladies  sitting  at  my  head. 
I  measured  the  distance  between  the  head  of 
my  cot  and  the  knees  of  the  lady  opposite 
the  head  and  concluded  there  was  room  for 
me  to  stand,  but  felt  considerable  embarrass- 
ment as  I  reflected  that  I  was  about  to  emerge 
naked  before  her,  but  comforted  myself  with 
the  thought  that  in  all  probability  she  would 
not  see  me  with  her  bodily  eyes,  as  I  was  a 
spirit.  As  I  emerged  from  the  head  I  floated 
up  laterally  like  a  soap  bubble  attached  to 
the  bowl  of  a  pipe,  until  I  at  last  broke  loose 
from  the  body  and  fell  lightly  to  the  floor, 
where  I  slowly  rose  and  expanded  to  the  full 
stature  of  a  man.  I  seemed  to  be  translucent, 
of  a  bluish  cast  and  perfectly  naked.  With 
a  painful  sense  of  embarrassment,  I  fled  toward 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  153 

the  partially  open  door  to  escape  the  eyes  of 
the  two  ladies  whom  I  was  facing,  as  well 
as  others  who  I  knew  were  about  me,  but  upon 
reaching  the  door  I  found  myself  clothed, 
and  satisfied  upon  that  point,  I  turned  and 
faced  the  company.  As  I  turned,  my  left 
elbow  came  in  contact  with  the  arm  of  one 
of  two  gentlemen,  who  were  standing  in  the 
door.  To  my  surprise,  his  arm  passed  through 
mine  without  apparent  resistance,  the  several 
parts  closing  again  without  pain,  as  air  reunites. 
I  looked  quickly  up  at  his  face  to  see  if  he  had 
noticed  the  contact,  but  he  gave  me  no  sign 
— only  stood  and  gazed  toward  the  couch  I 
had  just  left.  I  directed  my  gaze  in  the  direc- 
tion of  his,  and  saw  my  dead  body.  Suddenly 
I  discovered  that  I  was  looking  at  the  straight 
seam  down  the  back  of  my  coat.  '  How  is 
this,  I  thought,  how  do  I  see  my  back  ?  ' 
and  I  looked  again,  to  reassure  myself,  down 
the  back  of  my  coat,  or  down  the  back  of  my 
legs  to  the  very  heels.  I  put  my  hand  to  my 
face  and  felt  for  my  eyes.  They  were  where 
they  should  be  :  I  thought  '  Am  I  like  an  owl 
that  I  can  turn  my  head  half  way  round  ' 
I  tried  the  experiment  and  failed.  No  !  Then 
it  must  be  that,  having  been  out  of  the  body 
but  a  few  moments,  I  have  yet  the  power  to 


154      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

use  the  eyes  of  the  body,  and  I  turned  about 
and  looked  back  in  at  the  open  door  where  I 
could  see  the  head  of  my  body  in  a  line  with 
me.  I  discovered  then  a  small  cord,  like  a 
spider's  web,  running  from  my  shoulders  back 
to  my  body  and  attaching  to  it  at  the  base 
of  the  neck,  in  front.  I  was  satisfied  with  the 
conclusion  that  by  means  of  that  cord,  I  was 
using  the  eyes  of  the  body  and,  turning,  walked 
down  the  street.  A  small  densely  black  cloud 
appeared  in  front  of  me  and  advanced  towards 
my  face.  I  knew  that  I  was  to  be  stopped. 
I  felt  the  power  to  move  or  to  think  leaving 
me.  My  hands  fell  powerless  at  my  side, 
my  shoulders  and  my  head  dropped  forward 
and  I  knew  no  more.  Without  previous 
thought  and  without  effort  on  my  part,  my 
eyes  opened.  I  looked  at  my  hands  and  then 
at  the  little  white  cot  upon  which  I  was  lying, 
and,  realising  that  I  was  in  the  body,  in 
astonishment  and  disappointment,  I  exclaimed ; 
'  What  in  the  world  has  happened  to  me  ? 
Must  I  die  again  ?  .  .  ." 

Now,  if  this  case  stood  alone  we  should,  perhaps, 
be  right  to  explain  it  all  as  a  dream.  But  it  does 
not  stand  alone  for  there  are  numerous  other 
cases  to  be  found  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  S.P.R. 
and  in  Meyer's  "  Human  Personality."  In  my 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  155 

opinion,  therefore,  it  merits  the  most  careful 
consideration  and  contains  many  points  of  the 
greatest  interest  and  significance. 

I  think  it  will  be  found  to  work  in  remarkably 
well  with  the  whole  idea  of  the  detachable  quasi- 
physical  replica,  towards  which  hypothesis  the 
whole  of  the  observations  in  this  chapter  have 
been  tending. 

The  narrator  of  the  experience  seems  to  think 
that  the  vehicle  which  he  observed  to  become 
detached  from  the  body  and  in  which  he  was 
apparently  functioning  throughout  the  period 
in  question,  was  actually  the  "  Soul "  itself, 
the  permanent  and  immortal  post-mortem 
embodiment  of  consciousness. 

On  the  whole  this  seems  to  be  the  view  taken 
by  Mr.  Carrington,  who  quotes  the  case,  and  to 
be  that  commonly  held  in  France  on  the  authority 
of  MM.  Leon  Denis,  Delanne  and  other  writers. 
These  latter  refer  to  the  organism  in  question  as 
the  "  perisprit  "  and  it  is  represented  as  being 
the  vehicle  by  virtue  of  which  the  Consciousness 
persists  after  Death. 

With  this  view  I  cannot  agree. 

I  suggest  rather,  provisionally  of  course,  that 
the  Consciousness  persists  embodied  in  a  four- 
dimensional  vehicle  to  which  the  word  "  physical  " 
as  commonly  understood  cannot  be  applied  at 


156      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

all.  The  replica,  perisprit  or  "  Etheric  Double  " 
as  the  Theosophists  call  it,  is  only  the  connecting 
link  between  the  three  and  four-dimensional 
vehicles  which,  as  we  saw  at  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter,  must  be  supposed  to  exist  if  the 
four-dimensional  hypothesis  is  to  hold  good  at 
all.  It  seems  likely  that  it  is  no  more  permanent 
than  the  physical  body,  and  that  it  disintegrates 
after  death  in  the  same  way  that  the  bodily 
tissues  do. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  and  contrast  this 
case  with  the  somewhat  similar  one  of  which  a 
brief  resume  was  given  on  page  58  In  each  case 
the  consciousness  of  the  narrator  was  separated 
from  the  physical  body  but  the  conditions  after 
separation  seem  to  have  been  notably  different. 

In  the  first  case  the  patient  seems  to  have  been 
independent  of  space  in  that  he  was  able  to  pay 
a  visit  to  a  friend  at  a  distance  of  about  a  thousand 
miles  and  to  return  in  the  space  of  a  few  minutes  ; 
while  in  the  second  he  seems  to  have  been  tethered 
to  his  physical  body  by  the  "  cord  "  to  which  he 
refers. 

This  is  perhaps  the  most  important  point, 
but  others  are  easy  to  find — notably  in  the 
apparent  constitution  of  the  temporary  vehicle 
of  consciousness. 

It  seems  probable  that  in  the  first  case  the 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  157 

vehicle  was  four-dimensional  while  in  the  second 
it  was  the  "  quasi-physical  replica  "  which  we 
have  been  discussing. 

It  is  with  this  supposition  in  mind  that  I  shall 
examine  the  second  case. 

First  then  we  notice  that  the  narrator  seems 
to  have  been  in  error  in  referring  to  what  he  saw 
interwoven,  tissue  for  tissue,  with  the  physical 
body,  as  the  Ego.  But  this  error  was  clearly 
a  very  natural  one. 

Although  the  point  is  not  brought  out  with 
precision,  the  record  seems  to  suggest  that  the 
narrator  was  viewing  things  with  that  internal 
or  four  -  dimensional  vision  which  I  discussed 
in  my  remarks  on  Clairvoyance  in  Chapter  III. 

The  process  which  is  described  as  the  separation 
of  soul  and  body,  I  should  prefer  to  describe  as 
the  exteriorisation  of  the  "Etheric  Double."* 

As  it  happens,  this  exteriorisation  does  result 
in  the  separation  of  the  Consciousness  from  the 
body,  but  to  say  that  it  is  the  separation  would 
be  liable  to  confuse  the  Consciousness  and  the 
four-dimensional  vehicle  with  the  Etheric  double. 

That  exteriorisation  should  begin  at  the  feet 


*  NoTE.-^-In  future  I  shall  borrow  the  term  ''Etheric 
Double  "  from  the  Theosophists  and  use  it  instead  of  the  rather 
cumbrous  phrase  "Quasi-physical  replica."  I  do  not  think 
that  the  term  Etheric  Double  is  a  good  one,  but  it  is  in  common 
use,  and  I  will  adopt  it  until  some  better  word  is  suggested. 


158      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

is  only  what  one  would  expect  from  the  known 
fact  that  the  extremities  are  the  first  parts  of  the 
body  to  grow  cold  at  the  approach  of  death. 

Throughout  the  account  we  notice  the  extreme 
plasticity  of  the  vehicle  in  which  the  narrator 
functioned.  It  seems  to  have  squeezed  out  of 
the  body  in  a  formless  condition  and  then  to 
have  recovered  its  normal  shape  as  soon  as  the 
deforming  stresses  were  removed. 

This  is  entirely  in  accord  with  the  properties 
we  must  postulate  for  a  substance  which  can, 
apparently,  be  moved  and  shaped  by  mere 
volition  or  at  least  by  "  mental  forces,"  whatever 
that  may  mean,  set  in  motion  by  the  will.  At 
first,  that  is  to  say  during  the  process  of  extrusion, 
the  Etheric  Double  seems  to  have  been  under  the 
influence  of  some  repulsive  force  acting  between 
it  and  the  body.  This  is  admirably  suggested 
by  the  analogy  of  the  soap  bubble. 

When  extrusion  was  complete,  however,  the 
E.D.  "  fell  lightly  to  the  floor."  It  was  therefore 
composed  of  more  or  less  ponderable  matter, 
which  is  what  we  would  expect  from  MacDougal's 
experiments. 

The  translucency  and  bluish  colour  are  entire' y 
consonant  with  the  observations  of  Kilner  on  the 
aura,  which,  as  already  mentioned,  I  believe  to 
be  closely  associated  with  the  E.D. 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  159 

The  part  about  the  clothes  is  curious  and  I 
am  not  prepared  to  hazard  any  explanation  about 
it,  beyond  a  very  tentative  proposal  of  auto- 
suggested  hallucination. 

Scarcely  less  odd  is  the  apparent  ability  to  use 
both  the  physical  eyes  and  those  belonging  to 
the  E.D. 

But  the  fact  that  the  latter  were  in  operation 
is  concordant  with  the  observation  of  Durvilie 
that  the  sense  organs  of  the  exteriorised  E.D. 
were  operative  in  his  experiments. 

The  small  cord  connecting  the  E.D.  with  the 
physical  body  is  also  in  accordance  with  his 
observations. 

On  the  whole  then  I  think  it  fair  to  claim  that 
this  case  fits  in  admirably  with  the  experimental 
work  I  have  quoted. 

There  is  one  other  source  of  information  which 
may  profitably  be  considered  here,  namely 
the  statements  of  the  clairvoyants  and  of  the 
Occultists. 

I  hope  that  the  criticisms  which  I  have  been 
moved  to  make  about  the  Occultists  in  preceding 
passages  have  been  sufficiently  stringent  to  clear 
me  of  any  suspicion  of  being  unduly  credulous 
or  over-ready  to  accept  their  statements  as 
authoritative. 

There  are  many  things  in  their  methods  and 


160      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

their  teachings  which  excite  my  distrust  and 
antipathy. 

None  the  less  I  think  it  foolish  to  ignore  every 
statement  which  happens  to  be  supported  by, 
or  to  form  part  of,  Occult  doctrine. 

I  think  it  highly  probable  for  instance  that 
clairvoyant  descriptions  of  facts  concerning  the 
Etheric  Double  are  often  reliable. 

We  have  seen  that  the  whole  question  of  its 
study  is  probably  a  matter  of  observing,  directly 
or  indirectly,  by  ultra-violet  light.  We  also 
have  reason  to  suppose  that  the  retina  of  the  eye 
can  be  rendered  abnormally  sensitive  to  light  of 
this  frequency  by  artificial  means. 

But  if  such  abnormal  retinal  sens  bility  can 
be  induced  artificially,  it  is  very  probable  that  it 
may  sometimes  occur  naturally 

Hence,  if  the  E.D.  actually  exists,  as  the 
evidence  undeniably  suggests,  it  is  not  only 
possible  but  probable  that  certain  people  will 
be  able  to  see  it  without  invoking  artificial  aid. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  observations  of 
this  kind  contain,  in  themselves,  no  sort  o" 
"  supernatural "  element,  although  they  may, 
of  course,  receive  the  most  strange  and  erroneous 
interpretations  at  the  hands  of  the  uninformed. 

When  we  turn  to  Occult  literature  we  find  that 
the  theory  of  the  E.D.  is  worked  out  in  consider- 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  161 

able  detail.     It  is  said  to  be  violet-grey  or  blue- 
grey  in  colour  and  to  interpenetrate  the  physical 
body.    The  "health  aura,"  i.e.,  the  physical  aura 
dealt  with  by  Dr.  Kilner,  is  said  to  be  that  part  of 
the  E.D.  which  projects  beyond  the  physical  body. 
It  is  stated  that  the  physical  body  and  the  E.D. 
are  not  normally  separated  during  life,  although  in 
certain  nervous  conditions  the  E.D.  may  be  more 
or  less  extruded  from  the  physical  body.     (Com- 
pare this  with  the  diagnostic  researches  of  Kilner.) 
"  Anaesthetics    drive    out    the    greater    part 
of  the  E.D.,  so  that  consciousness  cannot  either 
affect  or  be  affected  by  the  dense  (physical) 
body.     In   the   abnormally   organised   persons 
called    mediums,    dislocation    of    the    etheric 
and  dense  bodies  easily  occurs,  and  the  E.D., 
when  extruded,  largely  supplies  the  physical 
basis  for  '  materialisations '    (  and  for  Craw- 
ford's structure.     .W.W.S.)." 

"  In  sleep,  when  the  consciousness  leaves  the 
physical  vehicle  which  it  uses  during  waking 
life,  the  dense  and  etheric  bodies  remain 
together.  .  .  At  what  is  called  death  the 
etheric  double  is  drawn  away  from  its  dense 
counterpart  by  the  escaping  consciousness ; 
the  magnetic  tie  existing  between  them  during 
earth  life  is  snapped  asunder.  .  ." 

(Taken  from  "  The  Ancient  Wisdom.") 


162      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

In  other  passages  it  is  stated  that  the  E.D.  is 
connected  with  the  physical  body  by  a  filamentary 
structure,  "  The  silver  cord,"  and  that  so  long 
as  this  is  unbroken  it  is  possible  for  connection 
between  Consciousness  and  the  physical  body 
to  be  re-established,  but  that  when  it  is  broken 
as  occurs  in  death,  the  separation  is  final. 

Finally  it  is  definitely  stated  that  this  E.D. 
is  a  quasi-physical  structure,  disintegrates  in 
the  same  way  as  the  physical  body  and  is  perceived 
by  a  mere  heightening  of  the  ordinary  visual 
faculty. 

Let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  I  do  not 
wish  one  whit  more  importance  to  be  attached 
to  this  last-quoted  evidence  than  each  individual 
reader  may  choose  to  assign  to  it  and  I  fully 
sympathise  with  those  who  prefer  to  allow  it  no 
weight  at  all. 

I  have  myself  a  strong  penchant  in  favour  of 
good  hard  scientific  experiments  with  apparatus 
and,  if  the  clairvoyant  testimony  stood  by  itself 
without  any  experimental  evidence  to  support  it, 
I  should  make  no  mention  of  it  here.  But  I 
think  that  in  common  justice  we  ought  to  admit 
that  the  statements  of  the  clairvoyants  are, 
in  the  main,  in  close  agreement  with  what  we 
should  expect  from  the  indications  afforded  us  by 
the  experimental  work  which  has  at  present  been 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  163 

done.  In  continuing  the  latter  we  shall  be  well 
advised  to  keep  the  former  in  our  minds  as 
furnishing,  at  least,  useful  hints  for  our  guidance. 
On  the  strength  of  the  various  considerations 
discussed  above,  I  am  disposed  to  extend  the 
four  dimensional  hypothesis  as  follows  : 

"  Connection  between  the  three-  and  four- 
dimensional  vehicles  is  maintained  by  means 
of  a  substance  of  peculiar  properties,  which 
is  intimately  connected  with  the  nervous 
system  in  the  conscious  functioning  of  which  it 
is  an  essential  factor.  States  of  partial  or  total 
anaesthesia  or  insensibility  are  accompanied 
and  probably  caused  by  the  extrusion  of  this 
substance  from  the  body." 
We  are  now  faced  by  the  problem  of  the 
constitution  of  this  substance. 

To  this  there  would  appear  to  be  two  possible 
solutions. 

The  first  of  these  is  that  favoured,  apparently, 
by  the  occultists  and  the  exponents  of  the 
"  perisprit "  doctrine.  The  second  is  that  to 
which  I  am  personally  inclined  at  present. 

According  to  the  former  of  these  two  hypotheses, 
the  E.D.  is  composed  of  a  sort  of  ''  rarified 
matter  "  by  which,  I  take  it,  is  meant  matter 
possessing  a  smaller  complexity  of  organisation 
than  that  with  which  we  are  normally  acquainted. 


164      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

This  would  appear  to  be  more  especially  the 
Occult  view  ;  although  on  technical  details  of 
this  kind  there  is  a  somewhat  unfortunate  lack 
of  precision  and  even  of  unanimity  among  Occult 
authorities. 

A  variation  on  this  is  the  idea  that  whereas 
ordinary  matter  is  the  result  of  vibratory,  or  other 
periodic,  disturbances  in  the  ether  of  a  certain 
frequency,  the  "  matter "  of  which  the  E.D. 
is  composed  is  the  result  of  similar  disturbances 
of  a  greater  frequency ;  that  it  is  matter 
transposed  into  a  higher  key  so  to  speak. 

The  experiments  of  Le  Bon,  who  claims  to  have 
obtained  a  temporary  condition  of  equilibrium 
in  the  dissociation  products  of  matter,  are 
sometimes  adduced  as  supporting  this  hypo- 
thesis. 

For  my  part  I  have  grave  doubts  as  to  the 
correctness  of  this  view. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  nothing  in  Le  Bon's 
work  to  indicate  that  these  dissociation  products 
are  capable  of  being  brought  into  a  state  of  such 
very  stable  equilibrium  as  must  be  possessed 
by  the  constituents  of  the  E.D. 

In  the  second,  the  hypothesis  involves  us  in 
all  the  difficulties  which  render  so  unsatisfactory 
all  attempts  to  account  for  post-mortem  existence 
on  normal  physical  lines. 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  165 

For,  on  either  hypothesis,  the  E.D.  is  either 
the  post-mortem  vehicle  itself,  as  held  by  the 
French  savants,  or  it  is  the  connecting  link 
between  the  two  vehicles,  as  I  consider. 

If  the  latter  is  the  case,  then  in  all  probability 
the  post-mortem  vehicle  is  to  the  E.D.  as  the  E.D. 
is  to  the  physical  body.  If  the  E.D.  is  merely 
rarified  matter  then  the  post-mortem  vehicle  is 
probably  merely  doubly-rarified  matter. 

For  this  and  other  reasons  I  prefer  the  idea 
that  the  E.D.  is  composed  of  matter  having  an 
abnormal  four-dimensional  complexity. 

Indeed,  as  I  pointed  out  at  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter,  this  view  seems  to  be  a  necessary 
corollary  of  the  whole  four-dimensional  hypothesis 
I  have  been  advocating. 

It  is  very  possible  that  we  shall  be  compelled 
to  reject  the  hypothesis  in  toto  in  the  light  of 
future  research,  but  until  this  becomes  necessary 
I  think  that  my  present  view  of  the  nature  of 
the  E.D.  is  the  only  tenable  one. 

Whether  this  abnormal  four  -  dimensional 
complexity  is  molecular  or  atomic  in  its  nature, 
or  whether  it  is  neither,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say. 

The  points  in  this  chapter  which  I  would  wish 
to  emphasise  are,  first,  that  if  the  four-dimensional 
hypothesis  be  true,  there  should  exist  a  connection 
between  the  three-  and  four-dimensional  vehicles. 

M 


166      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

Secondly,  that  this  link  should  possess 
properties  of  a  peculiar  nature  distinguishing  it 
from  ordinary  physical  substances. 

Thirdly,  that  there  are  distinct  evidences  to 
be  found  in  very  independent  quarters  which 
strongly  indicate  that  such  a  connecting  link  or 
substance  does  in  fact  exist. 

Fourthly,  that  this  substance  does  present 
unusual  features,  as  for  instance,  susceptibility 
to  volitional  control  and  to  forces  which  appear 
to  be  applied  from  some  direction  unknown  to 
us  (vide  my  remarks  on  the  theory  of  Crawford's 
structure  in  Chapter  III). 

Finally,  that,  as  it  appears  to  be  intermediate 
between  the  physical  body  and  the  post-mortem 
vehicle,  it  is  well  worthy  of  the  closest  study. 

It  will  be  very  evident  to  my  readers  that  this 
chapter  is  "  extrapolatory  "  and  speculative  in 
the  highest  degree.  The  ideas  discussed  are 
based  on  experiments  which  are  very  far  from 
being  conclusive.  I  should  be  sorry  indeed  to 
guarantee  them  all  as  being  of  cast-iron  reliability 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  comparatively  few  will 
ever  receive  the  amount  of  confirmation  which  is 
necessary  before  we  can  accept  such  things  as 
proven  facts. 

Still,  tenuous  as  the  evidence  is,  it  all  seems  to 
point  in  the  same  sort  of  direction  and  I  have 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  167 

therefore  thought  it  worth  while  to  give  it  the 
benefit  of  the  doubt  and  see  what  could  be  made 
of  it  on  the  temporary  assumption  that  it  is 
really  reliable. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE    RELIGIOUS    ASPECTS    OF    THE    HYPOTHESIS 

Although  I  have  no  wish  to  become  involved 
in  controversial  theology,  I  feel  it  incumbent 
on  me  to  examine  briefly  the  question  of  whether 
a  general  acceptance  of  the  four-dimensional 
hypothesis  would  be  fraught  with  any  considerable 
consequences  in  the  sphere  of  religious  thought. 

No  one  venturing  to  advocate  conceptions  so 
far-reaching  as  those  I  have  been  discussing, 
would  be  justified  in  ignoring  their  relation  to  any 
important  stream  of  thought  with  which  they 
might  be  held  liable  to  come  in  contact.  And 
it  is  evident  that  any  hypothesis  formulated, 
however  tentatively,  as  a  solution  to  the  problems 
of  Survival  of  Death  and  the  nature  of  post- 
mortem conditions,  must  inevJtably  come  into 
very  close  contact  with  Religion. 

I  shall  try  to  show  that  it  is  a  matter  of  contact 
only  and  not  of  conflict. 

168 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECT  169 

Even  so,  I  might  have  omitted  the  present 
discussion  had  I  not  found  a  tendency,  on  the 
part  of  certain  representatives  of  orthodox 
theology,  to  deprecate  any  attempt  to  find 
an  intelligible  solution  to  the  problems  involved. 

It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  I  am  not 
concerned  here  with  the  defence  of  Psychical 
Research  as  a  means  of  investigation,  but  only 
with  the  legitimacy  of  the  end. 

Generally  speaking,  those  with  whom  I  am  so 
unfortunate  as  to  disagree  on  this  matter  accuse 
me  on  two  counts. 

First  it  is  suggested  that  I  am  attempting  to 
advance  by  Reason  or  Sight  rather  than  by 
Faith  and,  secondly,  I  am  told  that  to  "  explain  " 
such  a  matter  as  the  Survival  of  Death  or  the 
nature  of  the  connection  between  matter  and 
spirit,  would  tend  to  reduce  everything  to  terms  of 
mere  mechanism  and  to  leave  no  place  at  all  in 
the  Cosmos  for  Divine  Will  and  Purpose  or  for  the 
transcendental  and  mystical  aspects  of  religion. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  I  violently  resent  both 
these  accusations. 

The  first  charge  seems  to  me  to  be  easy  of 
refutation. 

In  the  first  place  the  idea  of  "  Blind  Faith  " 
or  "  Unreasoning  Belief  "  is  one  which  involves 
a  contradiction  in  terms. 


170      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

As  Whately  well  says  in  his  "  Logic  "  : 

"  If  a  man  resolves  that  he  will  implicitly 
receive  e.g.,  in  religious  points,  all  the  decisions 
of  a  certain  Pastor,  Church  or  Party,  he  has  in 
doing  so  performed  one  act  of  private  judgment 
(i.e.,  the  result  of  reasoning),  which  includes 
all  the  rest." 

Hence  it  is  impossible  to  dissociate  Faith  and 
Reason. 

Secondly,  just  as  Courage,  in  its  proper  sense, 
does  not  mean  feeling  no  fear  but  the  overcoming 
of  it ;  so  Faith  consists,  not  of  having  no  doubts 
but  of  dispelling  them,  and  this  involves  a 
deliberate  exercise  of  the  will  in  choosing  between 
two  possible  alternatives  ;  that  is  to  say,  an  act 
of  reasoning. 

Thirdly,  I  submit  that  Life  is  not  a  sort  of  crazy 
competition  in  which  special  awards  are  to  be 
received  for  completing  the  course  blindfold,  but 
a  phase  in  the  general  upward  progress  of  man — 
whether  considered  collectively  or  individually — 
and  that  consequently  any  knowledge  is  desirable 
which  will  enable  us  consciously  and  intelligently 
to  co-operate  in  the  process. 

Finally,  and  I  think  that  this  puts  the  whole 
matter  in  one  sentence,  however  clearly  a  man 
can  see,  he  must  still  be  able  to  believe  his 
eyes. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECT  171 

However  plainly  we  can  see  the  path,  we  must 
still  believe  that  it  leads  in  the  right  direction, 
however  conclusively  we  may  demonstrate  a 
proposition,  we  are  still  dependent  on  our  Faith 
in  the  validity  of  Reason  and  the  veridicity 
of  the  observations  on.  which  it  is  based — and  this 
is  equally  the  case  whether  the  latter  be  scientific 
measurements  or  spiritual  experiences. 

The  supreme  effort  of  Faith,  made  by  the  most 
material  of  scientists  no  less  than  by  the  Saint, 
is  the  belief  that  the  Cosmos,  of  which  Reason 
is  a  part,  is  a  coherent  whole  and  not  a  Chaos. 

The  second  argument  appears  to  me  to  be 
equally  fissiparous. 

In  the  first  place  I  should  never  dream  of 
attempting  to  reduce  the  whole  Cosmos  to  terms 
of  mechanism. 

Any  such  idea  would  be  infinitely  repugnant  to 
me.  Moreover,  the  attempt  would  inevitably 
be  foredoomed  to  failure  since  there  are  problems 
which  are  essentially  insoluble.  The  first  and 
most  obvious  of  all — the  problem  of  the  nature 
and  origin  of  Consciousness — is  one  to  which  we 
can  never  hope  to  find  an  answer. 

But  quite  apart  from  all  this  I  entirely  fail 
to  see  why  the  explanation  of  mechanism,  using 
the  word  in  its  widest  sense,  should  have  any 
bearing  on  religion  at  all. 


172      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

Religion,  by  which  I  mean  something  more  than 
a  mere  code  of  morals,  is  concerned  rather  with 
motives  than  with  methods. 

If  a  child  were  to  ask  one  why  the  sun  and 
moon  did  not  fall  on  to  the  earth,  one  might 
reply  to  the  effect  that  they  were  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  exercise  of  the  Divine 
Will.  Alternatively  one  might  embark  on  a 
disquisition  about  the  law  of  gravitation  and 
planetary  mechanics. 

The  two  forms  of  explanation  would  be  by  no 
means  mutually  exclusive  since  the  second 
does  no  more  than  expand  the  first  by  an 
exposition  of  the  means  employed. 

If,  as  required  by  the  Christian  religion,  we 
believe  in  the  survival  of  the  individual  personality 
after  death,  it  is  evident  that  this  survival  must 
take  place  by  virtue  of  certain  properties  inherent 
in  the  Cosmos  and  the  necessity  of  Faith  in  our 
ultimate  destiny  will  not  be  affected  by  any 
determination  of  the  nature  of  those  properties. 

If  our  Consciousness  does  in  fact  persist  after 
death  it  must  do  so  in  some  state  of  embodiment, 
since  the  idea  of  pure  essence  is  inconceivable. 

For  my  part  I  utterly  fail  to  understand  why 
the  study  of  the  nature  of  the  vehicle  in  which 
the  consciousness  functions  after  death,  or  of  the 
conditions  in  which  it  lives,  has  any  more  to  do 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECT  173 

with  religion,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term, 
than  the  study  of  the  physical  body  and  the 
physical  world. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  I  do  not  anticipate  that 
Psychic  Research  will  confirm  the  idea  of  the 
old-fashioned  conventional  Heaven  and  Hell 
of  harps  and  crowns  on  the  one  hand  and  fire 
and  brimstone  on  the  other.  But  it  would  be  a 
bold  person  who  would  be  prepared  to  maintain 
now-a-days  that  these  ideas  form  an  integral  part 
of  Christianity. 

Modern  research  on  Evolution  and  the  process 
of  natural  selection  have  somewhat  notably 
discounted  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  the 
garden  of  Eden,  considered  as  historical  fact. 
But  it  would  be  difficult  to  maintain  that  the 
Christian  religion  has  suffered  as  a  conse- 
quence. 

The  account  of  the  creation  given  in  Genesis 
has  had  to  be  re-interpreted  in  the  light 
of  geological  and  astronomical  knowledge,  but 
Christianity  is  as  vital  a  force  in  the  world  to-day 
as  it  was  when  that  account  was  taken  literally 
word  for  word. 

Even  so,  if  any  specific  revelation  existed  on 
the  subject  of  the  manner  of  survival,  if,  for 
instance,  any  of  the  words  of  Christ  could  be  held 
to  contain  any  precise  information  on  the  subject, 


174      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

it  might  be  contended  that  no  further  knowledge 
was  necessary.  But  this  is  not  the  case. 

Immortality  is  insisted  on,  but  nothing  specific 
is  said  of  the  conditions  by  virtue  of  which  it 
obtains.  Nor,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  any  veto 
laid  on  endeavours  to  ascertain  those  conditions. 

I  repeat  that  in  my  opinion,  cosmic  mechanism 
and  religion  are  distinct,  and  no  knowledge,  how- 
ever full,  as  to  the  former  can  possibly  either 
impair  or  replace  the  latter. 

In  short  I  do  not  see  that  the  necessity  for 
religion  as  an  integral  part  of  life  would  be  one 
whit  diminished  even  supposing  we  knew  as  much 
about  the  "  next  world  "  and  conditions  of  life 
therein,  as  we  know  of  this. 

And  this  contention  holds  good  no  matter  what 
results  research  may  bring  to  light,  no  matter 
how  much  they  may  differ  from  our  preconceived 
ideas. 

For  the  truth  is  there  all  the  time  although 
at  the  moment  we  may  not  have  grasped  it  and 
the  Christian  religion,  if  it  be  the  true  religion, 
as  we  believe,  was  framed,  so  to  speak,  to  meet 
the  needs  of  a  cosmos  organised  in  this  particular 
way  and  in  no  other. 

Unless,  therefore,  the  Christian  religion  be 
false,  it  is  impossible  that  the  results  of  research, 
supposing  them  to  be  accurate  and  reliable, — a 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECT  175 

matter  which  can  only  be  ensured  by  the  exercise 
of  scientific  reason, — should  in  any  way  conflict 
with  religious  truth. 

In  case  any  one  should  feel  that  I  ought  to 
specify  more  precisely  than  I  have  done,  what 
I  mean  by  the  Christian  religion,  I  would  refer 
them  to  the  Nicene  creed.  Or  if  it  is  a  matter 
of  the  interpretation  of  this  in  terms  of  conduct, 
I  should  cite  "  My  duty  towards  God "  and 
"  My  duty  towards  my  neighbour  "  in  the  Church 
Catechism.  Or  in  secular  writings  I  would 
mention  that  view  of  Christianity  which  is 
defended  by  Mr.  G.  K.  Chesterton  in  his  book 
"  Orthodoxy." 

With  these  I  am  prepared  to  stand  four-square, 
although  it  is  conceivable  that  I  might  find  myself 
at  variance  with  some  authorities  on  the  precise 
interpretation  to  be  given  to  certain  clauses, 
as  for  instance  "  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  " 
in  the  first  mentioned. 

But  controversies  about  interpretation  have 
been  rife  among  Christian  theorists  from  the 
earliest  times  and  differences  of  opinion  on  minor 
points  do  not  constitute  lack  of  adherence  in 
fundamentals. 

Hitherto  in  this  discussion  I  have  been 
concerned  only  with  negatives.  That  is  to  say 
I  have  been  trying  to  show  that  there  is  nothing 


176    THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

in  the  attempt  which  has  led  me  to  adopt  the  four- 
dimensional  hypothesis  which  is  in  any  way 
contrary  to  the  essential  teachings  of  Christianity. 

There  is  however  a  positive  side  to  the 
question. 

I  believe  that  so  far  from  being  antagonistic 
to  Christian  teaching,  the  general  acceptance 
of  the  hypothesis  would  be  of  real  value,  in 
that  it  would  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Church 
a  very  powerful  weapon  for  the  repelling  of  a 
certain  form  of  attack,  that  of  the  scientific 
materialist  to  wit. 

I  do  not  mean  to  claim  this  as  a  merit  of  the 
four-dimensional  hypothesis  as  such,  for  it  would 
equally  accrue  to  any  other  hypothesis  which 
might  prove  to  be  true. 

In  the  second  chapter  I  gave  my  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  establishing  of  some  such 
hypothesis  would  be  calculated  to  remove  the 
principle  cause  of  dissension  between  religious 
and  materialistically  scientific  thinkers.  I  there 
pointed  out  that  the  chief  strength  of  the 
materialist  lay  in  the  reluctance  or  inability  of 
the  Church  to  give  an  intelligible  explanation 
of  the  terms  used  in  speaking  of  certain  religious 
and  spiritual  matters. 

I  have  explained  that  I  see  nothing  in  anyway 
repugnant  to  religion  in  the  attempt  to  formulate 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECT  177 

an    hypothesis    to    explain    the    mechanism    of 
survival,  etc. 

Equally  it  should  be  observed  that  religion, 
considered  as  something  more  than  a  mere 
ethical  and  moral  code,  would  be  in  no  way 
freed  from  the  necessity  of  justifying  itself, 
qua  religion,  by  the  acceptance,  however 
unanimous,  of  this  or  any  other  hypothesis. 
Such  justification  is  a  matter  for  an  apologetic 
of  quite  another  order,  of  which  order,  by  the 
way,  I  regard  Mr.  Chesterton's  "  Orthodoxy " 
mentioned  above  as  a  very  admirable  example. 

What  the  general  acceptance  of  such  an 
hypothesis  would  do,  would  be  finally  and  for 
ever  to  deprive  the  materialist  of  the  possibility 
of  maintaining  that  matter,  as  he  knows  it, 
is  the  final  and  only  permanent  reality  and  that 
Spirit  therefore  cannot  exist. 

It  is  true  that  this  would  only  involve  driving 
him  back  one  stage.  If  we  suppose  for  the  sake 
of  argument  that  we  could  finally  attain  to  as 
complete  a  knowledge  of  the  "  next  world " 
as  we  at  present  possess  of  this,  he  could  always 
return  to  the  attack,  using  with  regard  to  that 
state  the  same  arguments  as  he  originally  used 
with  regard  to  this.  But  having  once  broken 
through  the  ring  fence  of  matter  and  demonstrated 
that  there  exist  other  realities  of  which  he  was 


178      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

at  one  time  entirely  ignorant,  he  could  never 
deny  that  there  might  still  be  realms  as  yet 
unknown  to  him.  He  could  never  catch  us  again, 
so  to  speak. 

I  admit  that  the  above  is  a  somewhat  fantastical 
supposition  and  scarcely  within  the  sphere  of 
practical  politics,  but  the  point  is,  that  until  we  are 
prepared  to  give  an  intelligible  explanation  of 
things  we  are  pent  up  in  a  sort  of  intellectual  cul- 
de-sac  bounded  by  matter.  We  may  know,  as  the 
result  of  personal  experience,  that  there  is  a  way 
out,  that  matter  is  not  the  only  reality  ;  but  our 
knowledge  is  a  purely  personal  affair  and  the 
scientist  is  perfectly  entitled,  if  he  wishes,  to 
decline  to  take  the  steps  that  led  to  the  experiences 
which  have  convinced  us,  to  dismiss  them  as 
mere  hallucinations  and  to  write  off  our  alleged 
"  revelations  "  as  superstitious  myths. 

But  let  us  once  demonstrate  to  him,  in  a  manner 
calculated  to  appeal  to  his  intellect,  that  there 
may  be  a  non-material  reality  and  the  cul-de-sac 
is  at  once  broken  through  and  becomes  a  vista. 

It  may  be  one  of  which  we  cannot  see  the  end, 
and  we  shall  certainly  require  faith  to  believe 
that  it  leads  to  the  right  destination,  but  the 
point  is  that  it  is  a  vista  and  not  a  cul-de-sac. 

This  is  where  I  am  convinced  that  the  adoption 
of  some  hypothesis  of  the  same  general  order 


THE  RELIGIOUS  ASPECT  179 

as  that  which  I  have  been  advocating  would 
prove  of  definite  value  to  the  Church  and  that 
is  why  I  am  so  strongly  of  opinion  that  the 
Church,  by  which  term  I  mean  more  especially 
those  whose  business  it  is  to  concern  themselves 
with  the  general  trend  of  Christian  policy  with 
regard  to  contemporary  thought,  ought  to 
encourage  and  not  to  deprecate  or  oppose  attempts 
on  these  lines. 

0 

In  thus  venturing  to  criticise  the  Church, 
I  should  like  to  make  it  clear  that  I  only  do  so 
because  I  am  convinced  that  the  Church  is  a 
vital  and  indispensable  part  of  human  life,  and 
because  I  wish  to  see  her  influence  increased  and 
extended  rather  than  diminished.  If  I  thought 
otherwise  I  should  not  take  the  trouble  even  to 
criticise. 

So  far  I  have  said  nothing  about  the  religious 
significance  of  the  four-dimensional  hypothesis 
as  such ;  considered  that  is  to  say  as  to  its  four- 
dimensionality  and  not  merely  in  its  capacity 
as  a  hypothesis. 

The  reason  for  this  omission  is  simply  that 
I  do  not  consider  that  there  is  any  such 
significance. 

In  the  main  concept  of  existence  in  four- 
dimensional  space  after  death  there  is,  so  far 
as  I  can  see,  nothing  either  to  contradict  or  to 


i8o      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

confirm  anything  taught  by  the  Church  except 
the  bare  fact  of  survival  which  both  affirm. 

I  have  carefully  omitted  all  reference  to  the 
descriptions  of  post-mortem  existence  which 
have  been  obtained  from  time  to  time  through 
mediumistic  sources.  Any  such  discussion  would 
be  both  lengthy  and  out  of  place  as  it  would 
involve  a  detailed  critical  examination  of  both 
the  authenticity  and  interpretation  of  the  pro- 
nouncements. 

The  only  point  about  the  four  -  dimensional 
hypothesis  as  such  which  I  think  at  all  likely 
to  be  called  in  question  from  the  religious  point 
of  view,  is  that  involved  in  the  suggestion  that 
Consciousness  persists  after  death,  not  in  the  form 
of  "  pure  essence  "  but  embodied  in  some  form 
of  vehicle. 

But  this  is  a  matter  which  is  fully  included 
under  the  general  arguments  I  adduced  in  favour 
of  the  legitimacy  of  investigating  the  "  Cosmic 
mechanism  "  to  the  utmost  and  there  seems  to 
be  no  need  for  a  separate  re-discussion  here. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  however  that  a  large 
number  of  the  early  Christian  thinkers  adhered  to 
the  view  that  "  the  soul "  had  some  sort  of 
material  or  quasi-material  vehicle.  A  number  of 
quotations  on  the  subject  are  given  in  M.  Leon 
Denis'  book  "  Christianity  and  Spiritualism." 


CHAPTER    IX 

SUMMARY   AND   CONCLUSION 

I  will  bring  this  work  to  a  close  by  a  brief 
recapitulation  of  its  more  salient  points. 

A  dimension  is  defined  as  "an  independent 
direction  in  space."  A  flat  surface  is  two- 
dimensional  and  the  space  we  know  is  three- 
dimensional.  The  direction  of  the  fourth 
dimension  must  be  at  right  angles  to  every 
direction  which  can  be  drawn  in  our  space  and 
four-dimensional  space  is  such  that  through  any 
point  in  it,  four,  and  only  four,  lines  can  be 
drawn  mutually  at  right  angles. 

From  every  point  in  our  space  a  line  can  be 
drawn  running  off  in  the  direction  of  four  space. 

Consequently  every  point  in  our  space  is 
absolutely  accessible  from  the  direction  of  the 
fourth  dimension. 

The  best  way  of  drawing  conclusions  as  to  the 
properties  of  four-space  is  by  means  of  the  analogy 
of  the  two-dimensional  world  ;  since  four-space 
is  to  three-space  as  the  latter  is  to  two-space. 

The  fact  that  we  cannot  perceive  four-space, 
or  picture  its  nature  to  ourselves,  is  no  proof 
that  it  is  non-existent. 

181  N 


182      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

I  suggest  as  a  working  hypothesis  that  four- 
space  is  a  reality  and  that  Man  possesses  at  least 
one  other  vehicle  of  Consciousness — a  four- 
dimensional  one — besides  his  physical  body. 
In  this  vehicle  he  is  embodied  after  discarding 
the  physical  vehicle  at  death  and  also  during 
temporary  absences  from  the  body  during  life. 

This  hypothesis  is  likely  to  prove  of  importance 
in  two  respects.  First,  it  provides  Psychic 
Research  with  a  working  hypothesis  which  may 
be  essential  to  its  development  as  a  science. 
Secondly  the  adoption  of  some  such  hypothesis 
should  go  far  to  remove  the  principle  cause  of 
recent  cleavage  between  Religious  and  Scientific 
thought. 

The  hypothesis  is  capable  of  throwing  light  on 
a  number  of  "  Psychic  "  phenomena  which  are 
otherwise  very  obscure.  It  affords  us  a  means 
of  conceiving  a  mode  of  existence  which  is  real 
and  yet  imperceptible  to  our  senses,  thus  sur- 
mounting one  of  the  chief  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  conceiving  of  post-mortem  existence. 

In  the  realm  of  Clairvoyance  it  enables  us  to 
form  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  faculty  of 
internal  vision.  With  regard  to  Clairvoyance 
in  space,  it  also  helps  us  to  some  slight  extent, 
although  this  phenomenon  presents  special 
difficulties  of  its  own. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION          183 

Other  varieties  of  "  out  of  the  body " 
experiences  are  much  elucidated  by  its  aid. 

The  phenomena  with  which  it  is  most  closely 
connected,  however,  are  those  known  under  the 
gneral  title  of  "  apparent  penetration  of  matter 
by  matter." 

To  these  it  affords  by  far  the  simplest  and 
probably  the  only  explanation  and,  if  they  are 
regarded  as  irrefutably  established,  it  will  be 
difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  four  space 
is  a  reality. 

The  locus  classicus  of  such  phenomena  is  the 
Slade-Zollner  investigation,  but  this  is  worthless 
as  evidence.  The  literature  of  the  subject 
abounds  with  records  of  similar  occurrences. 

The  hypothesis  also  seems  to  offer  a  possible 
means  of  explaining  the  paradoxical  rigidity 
of  the  impalpable  structure  discovered  by 
Crawford. 

The  hypothesis  may  also  have  a  certain 
significance,  even  in  the  realm  of  pure  Philosophy. 
It  enables  us  to  conceive  of  the  simultaneous 
existence  of  a  series  of  three  space  simultaneities 
and,  consequently,  is  of  interest  in  the 
consideration  of  Time  and  of  the  possibility  of 
Prevision. 

It  also  works  in  well  with  a  certain  view  of  the 
nature  of  Vitality. 


184      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

As  regards  its  relation  to  ordinary  physical 
science,  we  find  nothing  to  conflict  with  it,  but, 
on  the  contrary  that  there  are  a  certain  number 
of  indications  that  four-space  is  as  I  suggest, 
more  than  a  mere  mathematical  concept.  It  is 
possible  that  it  may  some  day  come  to  be 
recognised  as  having  some  significance  in  the 
theory  of  the  nature  of  electrons  and  of  ether, 
while  recent  views  on  "Relativity"  strongly 
indicate  that  Physicists  will  soon  regard  the 
four-dimensionality  of  the  Universe  as  a  common 
place. 


If  the  four-dimensional  hypothesis  is  correct 
there  should  exist  some  sort  of  connecting  link 
between  the  physical  body  and  the  four- 
dimensional  vehicle. 

The  function  of  this  link  would  be  to  deflect 
sensory  impressions  out  of  three  space  into  four 
space  thus  enabling  them  to  reach  the  Conscious- 
ness resident  in  the  latter.  Such  a  link  must 
therefore  be,  in  some  way,  intermediate  between 
ordinary  matter  and  four-dimensional  matter. 

That  is  to  say,  it  must  possess  some  degree  of 
four-dimensional  complexity.  This  may  reason- 
ably be  supposed  to  endow  it  with  peculiar 
properties. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION          185 

If  such  a  connecting  link  be  found  to  exist 
in  practice,  it  would  tend  to  confirm  the 
hypothesis. 

The  experiments  of  de  Rochas,  of  Joire,  of 
MacDougal,  of  Baraduc,  of  Kilner,  and  of  Craw- 
ford seem  to  indicate  that  such  a  connecting 
link  does,  in  fact,  exist. 

This  is  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  clair- 
voyants, which,  though  not  of  a  nature  to  be 
rated  too  highly  or  accepted  lightly,  should  be 
allowed  some  weight. 

The  attempt  to  formulate  an  hypothesis  of 
this  nature  is  not  repugnant  to  Religion.  Nor 
is  there  anything  in  this  particular  hypothesis 
which  can  be  held  to  conflict  with  Religious 
doctrines. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  acceptance  of  such  an 
hypothesis  would  cut  the  ground  from  under 
the  feet  of  those  who  seek  to  maintain  that 
matter  is  the  only  reality  and  that  therefore 
Spirit  and  the  Spiritual  life  are  mere  illusions. 


No  writer  can  expect  to  bring  all  his  readers 
to  his  way  of  thinking.  Indeed  it  would  be 
unfortunate  if  he  were  to  do  so,  as  the  effect 
would  be  to  eliminate  that  element  of  critical 
discussion  which  is  so  fruitful  a  source  of  progress. 


186     THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

Consequently,  I  do  not  anticipate  that  every 
reader  will  agree  with  me.  All  I  venture  to 
hope  is  that  I  may  have  made  good  my  contention 
that  the  four  -  dimensional  concepts,  in  spite 
of  the  scorn  poured  on  them  as  a  result  of  the 
Zollner  fiasco,  are  worthy  of  very  careful 
consideration  as  a  tentative  working  hypothesis 
by  those  who  are  seeking  to  clear  up  the  many 
obscure  problems  presented  by  Psychical 
Research. 

If  this  little  book  is  thought  worthy  of  criticism, 
I  shall  welcome  it.  Its  purpose  will  have  been 
amply  served  if  it  succeeds  in  arousing  interest 
in  what  will  prove,  I  believe,  a  very  fruitful 
field  of  speculation  and  research. 


APPENDIX. 

To  illustrate  how  the  analogy  of  the  relation 
between  two  and  three-dimensional  space  enables 
us  to  determine  some  of  the  properties  of  four- 
dimensional  figures  : 

(i) 

"  Any     figure     in     a     space     of     a     given 

dimensionality     generates      a     corresponding 

figure  in  the  next  higher  space,   by  moving 

in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to  any  direction 

that    can    be    drawn    within    itself.*     Or,    in 

general,  space  of  any  dimensionality  generates, 

by  such  a  movement,  the  next  higher  space." 

Thus,  the  lowest  sort  of  space  is  space  of  zero 

dimensions,    i.e.,    a   mathematical   point.     If   it 

moves  a  distance  of  one  inch,  it  traces  out  a  Line 

one  inch  long — that  is  to  say  a  one  space  "  figure." 


*  NOTE. — The  figures  thus  produced  are  not  necessarily  the 
strict  analogues  of  the  figures  which  generate  them.  For 
instance  a  circle,  moving  in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  itself, 
would  generate  a  cylinder ;  whereas  the  three-dimensional 
analogue  of  a  circle  is  a  sphere. 

187 


i88      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

If  this  moves  at  right  angles  to  itself  for  a  distance 
of  one  inch.it  traces  out  a  two  space  figure,  viz., 
a  square  of  side  one  inch.  If  this  again  moves 
a  distance  of  one  inch  in  a  direction  at  right 
angles  to  every  direction  that  can  be  drawn 
within  it,  that  is,  in  a  direction  perpendicular 
to  itself,  it  traces  out  a  cube  of  side  one  inch, 
i.e.,  a  three  space  figure  or  "  solid." 

We  must,  therefore,  conclude,  from  analogy, 
that  if  the  cube  were  itself  to  move,  a  distance 
of  one  inch,  in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to  every 
direction  that  can  be  drawn  in  our  space — in 
the  unknown  direction,  that  is,  of  the  fourth 
dimension — it  would  generate  a  "  higher  solid  " 
of  side  one  inch.  The  higher  solid  thus  generated 
is  called  a  "  Tesseract  "  and  its  properties  are 
quite  well  known. 

(2) 

"  Every  figure,  in  a  space  of  a  given 
dimensionality,  contains  an  infinite  number 
of  the  '  corresponding  '  figures — see  (i) —  in 
the  next  lower  space." 

Since  a  point  is  defined  as  having  "  position  but 
no  magnitude,"  it  follows  that  it  would  require 
an  infinite  number  of  points  to  make  up  a 
line. 


APPENDIX  189 

Similarly  a  line  has  length,  but  no  breadth 
or  thickness,  and  it  would  therefore  require  an 
infinite  number  of  lines  laid  side  by  side  to  make 
up  a  surface. 

Again  a  surface  has,  theoretically,  no  thickness, 
and  it  would  therefore  require  an  infinite  number 
of  surfaces  superimposed  on  one  another  to  make 
up  a  solid. 

We  must  therefore  conclude,  by  analogy,  that 
it  would  require  an  infinite  number  of  solids 
to  make  up  a  "  higher  solid." 

In  particular,  a  Tesseract  must  be  supposed 
to  contain  an  infinite  number  of  cubes,  and,  in 
general,  four  space  must  be  conceived  of  as 
containing  an  infinite  number  of  three  spaces. 


(3) 
"  The  Boundaries  of  a  figure  in  a  space  of  any 

dimensionality  are   themselves  figures  in  the 

next  lower  space." 

Thus  a  Line  (one  space)  is  bounded  by  Points 
(zero  space). 

A   surface   (two  space)   is  bounded  by  Lines 
(one  space). 

A  solid  (three  space)  is  bounded  by  Surfaces 
(two  space). 


igo      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 


B 


r/g.to 


We    must    conclude    therefore    that    "  higher 

solids ' '    (four    space)    are    bounded    by    Solids 

(three  space). 

To  take  the  special  case  with  which  we  are 
already  familiar.  The 
line  AB,  is  bounded  by 
the  points  A  and  B. 
(Fig.  10).  The  square, 
A  B  C  D,  is  bounded 
by  four  lines  AB,  BC, 
CD,  DA.  The  cube, 
ABCDEFGH,  is 
bounded  by  six  surfaces, 
namely,  ABCD,  CDEF, 
EFGH,  GHAB,  ADEH, 
BCFG. 
Similarly  we  must  conclude  that  a  tesseract 

is  bounded  by  cubes. 

We   shall   see   later   that    there   are   eight    of 

them. 


(4) 

We  may  put  (3)  in  a  slightly  different  way, 
by  saying  that : 

"  Two  adjacent  portions  of  space,  of  any 
dimensionality,  are  separated  by  a  space  of 
the  next  lower  dimensionality." 


APPENDIX 


191 


B 


B 


F//.// 


/T      / 

M 

/ 

M 

/ 

p 

1 

K 

E 

/ 

/ 

0 


The  portions  AB  and  BC  of  the  line  AC  are 

separated  by  the 
point  B.  (Fig. 
ii.)  The  por- 
tions ABEF  and 
BCDE  of  the  fig. 
ACDF  are  sepa- 
rated by  the  line 
EB.  The  portions 
A  B  E  F  G  H  I  M 
andBCDEMIKL 
of  the  solid 
ACDFGHKL 
are  separated  by  the  surface  BIME. 

Similarly  we  must  suppose  that  any  two 
adjacent  portions  of  four  space  are  separated  by 
a  three  space  figure. 

Or,  again,  to  alter  it  slightly,  "  any  space  is  no 
more  than  a  boundary  between  two  adjacent 
portions  of  the  next  higher  space."  Whence 
it  follows  that  the  whole  of  our  three  space  is 
but  the  boundary  between  two  adjacent  portions 
of  four  space. 

(5) 

"  A  tesseract,  which  is  the  four-dimensional 
analogue  of  the  cube,  is  bounded  by  Eight 
cubes.  It  has  Twenty-four  plane  square  faces, 


IQ2      THE  MECHANISM  OF  SURVIVAL 

Thirty-two  linear   edges,   and   Sixteen   corner 
points." 

This  may  at  first  sight  seem  difficult  to  grasp. 
In  reality  however,  it  is  quite  simple. 
We  have  only  to  remember  that  the  tesseract 
is  generated  by  the  movement  of  a  cube,  in  a 
direction  at  right  angles  to  every  direction  that 
can  be  drawn  in  the  cube,  and  that  whenever 
a  figure  of  a  given  dimensionality  moves  thus 
it     generates     a     figure     of     the     next     higher 
dimensionality. 

Thus  every  point  in  the  cube  will  trace  out  a 
line,  every  line  a  surface,  and  every  surface  a 
solid,  and,  since  the  distance  moved  is  equal  to 
the  length  of  the  side  of  the  cube,  these  surfaces 
will  be  squares  and  the  solids  will  be  cubes. 

But  let  us  first  consider  the  analogous  case 
of  the  generation  of  the  cube  by  the  movement 
of  a  square. 

Let  A  B  C  D  represent  the  original  position 
of  the  square.  It  moves,  a 
distance  equal  to  one  of  its  sides, 
in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to 
every  direction  that  can  be  drawn 
within  itself — at  right  angles,  i.e., 
to  every  one  of  its  sides — and 
finally  comes  to  rest  in  the  position 
EFGH. 


APPENDIX  193 

Every  side  has  traced  out  another  square  and 
we  have,  in  addition,  the  old  square  ABCD, 
with  which  we  started  and  the  new  square  EFGH, 
with  which  we  end. 

Thus  even  if  we  had  no  idea  how  many  sides, 
edges,  and  corners  a  cube  had  we  could  deduce 
them. 

We  should  say  : — 

Every  side  of  the  original  square  has  traced 
out  a  new  square — that  makes  4 — and  we  also 
have  the  original  square  and  the  "  final  "  square 
making  a  total  of  6.  A  cube,  therefore,  must 
be  bounded  by  6  square  surfaces. 

Similarly  we  should  reflect  that  the  original 
square  and  the  final  square  have  each  4  linear 
edges,  making  8,  and  that  each  of  the  4  corner 
points  of  the  original  square  would  trace  out  a 
line,  making  new  lines,  and  we  would  therefore 
conclude  that  a  cube  must  have  8+4=12 
edges. 

Finally,  since  in  a  uniform  motion  no  new 
points  will  be  generated,  we  should  expect  the 
cube  to  have  a  total  of  8  corner  points,  i.e.,  the 
four  corners  of  the  original  square  and  the  four 
corners  of  the  final  square. 

Now  let  us  apply  the  same  methods  to  the 
generation  of  the  tesseract  by  the  movement  of 
a  cube. 


194 

Observe  that  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  square 
generating  the  cube  we  had  the  original  square 
to  start  with  and  what  I  called  the  "final" 
square  to  end  up  with,  so,  in  this  case,  we  shall 
start  and  end  up  with  a  cube. 

In  the  process  of  the  movement  every  face  of 
the  cube  will  generate  a  new  cube — that  means 
6  new  cubes,  since  the  cube  must  have  had  6 
faces — and  there  will  also  be  the  original  cube 
and  the  final  cube,  making  a  total  of  8  cubes  all 
told.  A  tesseract  must  therefore  be  bounded 
by  8  cubes. 

Similarly  each  line  of  the  original  cube  will 
trace  out  a  square.  This,  since  a  cube  has  12 
edges,  gives  us  12  new  squares  plus  6  from  the 
original  and  6  from  the  final  cube,  or  a  total  of 
24.  A  tesseract  therefore  has  24  plane  square 
faces.  Again  each  point  of  the  original  cube  will 
trace  out  a  line,  making  8  new  lines,  and  there 
will  also  be  12  lines  in  the  original  and  12  in  the 
final  cube,  making  a  total  of  32. 

Finally,  there  will  be  8  points  in  the  original 
cube  and  8  in  the  final  cube,  but  none  will  have 
been  produced  on  the  way.  So  a  tesseract  will 
therefore  have  16  corner  points. 

There  is  no  reason  why  this  process  should  not 
be  continued  indefinitely.  For  a  tesseract  may 
be  supposed  to  move,  in  distance  equal  to  the 


APPENDIX  195 

length  of  one  of  its  edges,  in  a  direction  not 
contained  in  itself  and  will  generate  a  five 
dimensional  figure,  bounded  by  ten  tesseracts, 
and  having  in  it  40  cubes,  80  squares,  80  lines, 
and  32  corner  points.  Thus  a  whole  series  of 
Higher  Space  figures  may  be  produced.  But 
these  are  of  little  practical  interest,  and  I  shall 
not  deal  with  them  here. 


E.    AUSTIN   AND    SON,    LTD. 

PRINTERS, 
CLIFTON,     BRISTOL.      — 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Anaesthesia       146,  147 

Apologetics,  Christian      ...  177 
Apport. 

Two-dimensional       ana- 
logue of      15,  16 

Discussion    of    evidence 

for       62,  73  sqq. 

Astral  plane      35,  53 

Anra  142,  143,  161 

Cantilever,  Craw- 
ford's              86-91,145 

Carrington,  Here  ward 

71,  74,  77,  113-141 
Change — in  a  two  dimen- 
sional world 17,  20 

Clairvoyance    42,  48 

Crawford   86,  145,  147 

Death.     Loss  of  weight  at    143 
Dimension.    Definition  of...     3 

Direct  Voice     62 

Disembodiment,  cases  of 

68,  150—154 

Dreams      54,  55 

Electricity.     Hintons 

theories  of     127 

Etheric  double... 35,  62, 148—147 
Energy,  conservation  of 

117,  120 

Ether.     Hinton's  analogy    127 
Exteriorisation  of  Sensi- 
bility      141 

Faith  and  Reason     169 

Fatalism      107  -109 

Flatland      7 

Geometry.    Possible  break 

down  of    124,  126 

Hair-trigger  theory  ...    116,  141 

Hallucination     50,  51 

Hypothesis.    Need  of      24—38 

Valid 29 

True *:9 

Hyslop,  Dr 77 

Internal  Vision 46-  49 

Kilner,  Dr   142—143 

Levitation   86    91,  145 

Light.    Theories  of  ...       29,30 


PAGE 

Materialists        ...     32,  176,  177 

Milan  Committee     83 

Occultists    32,  34 

One-dimensional  space  ...  7 
Palladino,  Eusapia  ...  74,  83 
Parallaxes,  Negative  ...  126 

Peters,  Dr 83 

Phantasms 52,55,57 

Pogorelsky 84 

Poincare       124 

Postvision   42,  62 

Prevision       39,  42,  52,  103-107 

Psycho-analysis        55 

Reason  and  Faith     169 

Reichenbach      140 

Relativity    133—135 

Religion        32,  168—180 

Richet 31 

Rotation  in  four- space    ...     129 

Sambor 84 

Secondary  personality    ...      41 
Sensibility.     Exteriorisa- 
tion of       141 

Slade     64,  73  sqq. 

Space.   Objectivity  of  109-112 

Spectrum     43 

Symmetry   ...     131—133 

Telekinesis 39,  86 

Telepathy    39,  41 

Television    46,  48,  111 

Tesseract     188,  189,  191 

Theologians        32 

Theosophists      ...     35,  159,  160 

Time     92—103 

Measurement  of    94 

Bergson's  views  on       96    98 

Subjective       99 

Two-dimensional  world, 

analogy  of       7  sqq. 

Ultra-violet  light      43,  144,  160 

Vitality 113—141 

Vortices.     Four-dirnensional 

127 

Will       113—141 

Zero-dimensional  space ...  7 
Zollner 1,  62,  73  sqq. 


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